The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll Volume V Part 45

_Answer_. Only human testimony.

_Question_. Do all men give the same force to the same evidence?

_Answer_. By no means.

_Question_. Have all honest men who have exam- ined the Bible believed it to be inspired?

_Answer_. Of course they have. Infidels are not honest.

_Question_. Could any additional evidence have been furnished?

_Answer_. With perfect ease.

_Question_. Would G.o.d allow a soul to suffer

426

eternal agony rather than furnish evidence of the truth of his Bible?

_Answer_. G.o.d has furnished plenty of evidence, and altogether more than was really necessary. We should read the Bible in a believing spirit.

_Question_. Are all parts of the inspired books equally true?

_Answer_. Necessarily.

_Question_. According to Saint Matthew, G.o.d promises to forgive all who will forgive others; not one word is said about believing in Christ, or believ- ing in the miracles, or in any Bible; did Matthew tell the truth?

_Answer_. The Bible must be taken as a whole; and if other conditions are added somewhere else, then you must comply with those other conditions.

Matthew may not have stated all the conditions.

_Question_. I find in another part of the New Testament, that a young man came to Christ and asked him what was necessary for him to do in order that he might inherit eternal life. Christ did not tell him that he must believe the Bible, or that he must believe in him, or that he must keep the Sabbath- day; was Christ honest with that young man?

_Answer_. Well, I suppose he was.

427

_Question_. You will also recollect that Zaccheus said to Christ, that where he had wronged any man he had made rest.i.tution, and further, that half his goods he had given to the poor; and you will re- member that Christ said to Zaccheus: "This day "hath salvation come to thy house." Why did not Christ tell Zaccheus that he "must be born again;"

that he must "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ"?

_Answer_. Of course there are mysteries in our holy religion that only those who have been "born "again" can understand. You must remember that "the carnal mind is enmity with G.o.d."

_Question_. Is it not strange that Christ, in his Ser- mon on the Mount, did not speak of "regeneration,"

or of the "scheme of salvation"?

_Answer_. Well, it may be.

_Question_. Can a man be saved now by living exactly in accordance with the Sermon on the Mount?

_Answer_. He can not.

_Question_. Would then a man, by following the course of conduct prescribed by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, lose his soul?

_Answer_. He most certainly would, because there is not one word in the Sermon on the Mount about believing on the Lord Jesus Christ; not one word

428

about believing in the Bible; not one word about the "atonement;" not one word about "regeneration."

So that, if the Presbyterian Church is right, it is abso- lutely certain that a man might follow the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, and live in accordance with its every word, and yet deserve and receive the eternal condemnation of G.o.d. But we must remem- ber that the Sermon on the Mount was preached be- fore Christianity existed. Christ was talking to Jews.

_Question_. Did Christ write anything himself, in the New Testament?

_Answer_. Not a word.

_Question_. Did he tell any of his disciples to write any of his words?

_Answer_. There is no account of it, if he did.

_Question_. Do we know whether any of the dis- ciples wrote anything?

_Answer_. Of course they did.

_Question_. How do you know?

_Answer_. Because the gospels bear their names.

_Question_. Are you satisfied that Christ was abso- lutely G.o.d?

_Answer_. Of course he was. We believe that Christ and G.o.d and the Holy Ghost are all the same, that the three form one, and that each one is three.

429

_Question_. Was Christ the G.o.d of the universe at the time of his birth?

_Answer_. He certainly was.

_Question_. Was he the infinite G.o.d, creator and controller of the entire universe, before he was born?

_Answer_. Of course he was. This is the mystery of "G.o.d manifest in the flesh." The infidels have pretended that he was like any other child, and was in fact supported by Nature instead of being the supporter of Nature. They have insisted that like other children, he had to be cared for by his mother.

Of course he appeared to be cared for by his mother.

It was a part of the plan that in all respects he should appear to be like other children.

_Question_. Did he know just as much before he was born as after?

_Answer_. If he was G.o.d of course he did.

_Question_. How do you account for the fact that Saint Luke tells us, in the last verse of the second chapter of his gospel, that "Jesus increased in wis- "dom and stature"?

_Answer_. That I presume is a figure of speech; because, if he was G.o.d, he certainly could not have increased in wisdom. The physical part of him could