Can there be any mistake about this, my Lord? Here Christ, in the first place, exhorts his fellow-men not to call each other fools, because, if they do, they will be in danger of hell fire, and then, by way of example, he calls his fellow-men fools himself! Is this consistency? And will Christ, according to his own doctrine, not be in danger of hell fire ?

Christ again says :—

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

"But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. Mat. ch. v. vs. 38, 39.

Christ acts in opposition to the principle here inculcated on numerous occasions. One of which is, where he escapes from the Jews as follows:

"Therefore they sought again to take him but he escaped out of their hand." John, ch. x. v. 39.

Escaping out of their hands my Lord, if it be not resisting evil, is escaping from evil, and this is not turning the left cheek after you are struck on the right. Besides, Christ says:

"And I say unto you my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do." Luke ch. xii. v. 4.

Why then was Christ afraid? Why did he escape out of the hands of the Jews? And with respect to resisting not evil, what do the four evangelists say about the apostles carrying swords? Do they not tell us, that when Christ was arrested Simon Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest's servant? And yet this same Simon Peter was engaged by Jesus Christ to preach the doctrine of resist not evil! Was it consistent in Jesus Christ having such apostles? Only imagine a number of men going about the country

preaching the doctrine of resist not evil, and these very men to be armed with swords. What are swords for but for the purpose of resisting evil ?

Christ again says, in his sermon on the mount:

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

"But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Mat. ch. v. vs. 43, 44.

In scores of instances Christ acts in direct opposition to the doctrine he here preaches. In the very next chapter, for instance, he denounces his fellow men as hypocrites, merely because they differ from him in opinion, which is entirely at variance with the principle here inculcated. And in Matthew, ch. xxiii., on no less than seven occasions he exclaims, "Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" Twice he exclaims, Ye fools and blind," once he exclaims, "Thou blind Pharisee," and to crown all, he exclaims,——

"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

Is this acting, my Lord, in obedience to the doctrines he preached? Is this loving your enemies? Is this blessing them that curse you? Is this doing good to them that hate you, and praying for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you? Is it, my Lord, loving your enemies to call them serpents and vipers? And why did Christ denounce his fellow men in this manner? Merely because they were so blind as not to see that he was the Son of God. The irrational man! was it the fault of the people because they were blind? It was his own fault in not laying before them evidence sufficient to convince them that he was the Son of God? It does not depend upon the people themselves whether they believe or not. If it did, what is your lordship for, and all the swarm of priests in this country? If the people

could believe of themselves, what would be the use of any of you? You my Lord, and the rest of the clergy, are so much machinery made use of for the purpose of making people believe, of operating upon their minds in such a manner as to convince them of the truth of certain propositions, and if you cannot succeed in convincing them, whose fault is it, but either that your propositions are incapable of being demonstrated, or that you yourselves are incapable of that demonstration. Does it depend upon the people themselves whether they believe that the sun exists or not? No, they cannot help believing it. And if you were to demonstrate your propositions in a convincing manner, in the same way the people could not help believing them. Yet, because Christ could not demonstrate the proposition that he was the Son of God, he exclaims," Ye serpents and vipers," although, too, he had just been preaching the doctrine of loving his enemies, and the mildest of all possible charity! It is time, my Lord, that the minds of the people were disabused of the falsehood, that such a being as this possessed the character of divinity.

Christ again discovers inconsistency in the following passage:

"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

"And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Mat. ch. vii. vs. 22, 23.

Here Christ drives his enemies away from him, although his doctrine is to love and bless, and do them good. And if they do work iniquity, does Christ himself not say, that iniquity must needs come, (Mat. ch. xviii. v. 7,) and if iniquity must needs come, why treat the man with whom it comes in such a scornful manner as this? If a man must needs be wicked, it

is the man's misfortune rather than his fault, and we ought to treat him with compassion rather than with contempt or punishment.

Another instance of the irrationality of Jesus Christ is manifested in his instructions to his twelve apostles, as follows: :

"And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.

Verily, I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judg ment, than for that city." Mat. ch. x. vs. 14, 15.

Here Christ commands his apostles to shake off the dust of their feet at people who will not receive them, and hear their words; that is to say, those who will not provide them with a night's lodgings and other necessaries, are to be treated with contempt and insult. Is this in accordance with his doctrine of loving enemies, and blessing them, and doing them good? Is this returning good for evil ? And what does Christ mean by saying, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city? Does he mean that they will meet with some severe punishment? Quite in accordance this, with his doctrine of forgiving people seventy times seven times.

A most extraordinary instance of the inconsistency of Jesus Christ, is as follows:

"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

"But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." Mat. ch. x. vs. 32, 33.

Nothing could be more glaring, or more perfect, than the inconsistency here manifested. Talk about enforcing precepts by example, this is doing it to some purpose.

"love your

Christ, in his sermon on the mount, says, enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you," yet in the passage just quoted, because a man denies him, he also denies the man; that is to say, because a man does him evil, he also does evil to the man, which is altogether opposed to his doctrine, which is to return good for evil. Can any proposition, my Lord, be more clear, or more evidently demonstrated, than that Jesus Christ is here convicted of inconsistency? How then can he be the Son of God?

Another instance of the irrationality of Jesus Christ is as follows:

"The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would show them a sign from heaven.

"He answered and said unto them, when it is evening, ye say, it will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

"And in the morning, it will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times ?

"A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed." Mat. ch. xvi. vs. 1-4.

Here it appears some Pharisees and Sadducees came up to Jesus, and desired him to show them a sign from heaven, in order that they might believe that he was the Son of God. But Jesus, instead of complying with this reasonable and proper request, exclaims, "O ye hypocrites; that is to say, people are hypocrites because they desire evidence before they believe. Those who are acquainted with the doctrine of Jesus Christ, will know, that he repeatedly exhorted his disciples to "give to every man that asketh," (Luke, ch. vi. v. 30), yet, in the case before us, instead of giving to the Pharisees and Sadducees what they ask, he exclaims, "O ye hypocrites."