1928. There are several truths, which I deem to be axiomatic, which are irreconcilable with the truth of Revelation, (18 to 20.) Merely to state them is to refute Mr. Mahan's allegation above cited. With readers who will not admit the axioms to which allusion is made, I must agree to differ. (See page 34.)

1929. In the first place, I have represented it as a contradiction to allege that an omnipotent, omniscient, and prescient God can subject any thing to probation, (1380.)

1930. In the next place, I hold that an omnipotent God cannot wish men to have any religion, without that object being effected.

Will not any event arrive

For which both will and power strive?

Must not any result obtain

Which power unites with will to gain?

1931. I answer these queries in the affirmative, and of course consider the theology of Revelation as involved in a contradiction, so far as it represents an omnipotent and prescient God as wishing any creed to be adopted which has not been adopted.

1932. As a corollary to these axioms, it results that God never has performed any miracle for the purpose of conveying a knowledge of the true religion; simply because all that have been alleged to have come from God have only produced religious discord. Of course God, foreseeing

3

the failure of those miracles, would not have resorted to them.

Did God a special creed require,

Each soul would he not with that creed inspire?

1933. This I answer affirmatively. The truth of the affirmative is as clear to my mind as any of Euclid's axioms.

1934. Another conclusion I consider as inevitable: that no document can be substantiated by the facts of which it furnishes the sole evidence. 1935. In this predicament I place the Bible, the Koran, the Shaster, or Veda, and the Zendavesta, or any religious record of antiquity.

1936. Manifestly, a record made by man can have no higher authority than that of the men whose testimony it records, and those by whom it was recorded.

Of the origin of the Books of Moses no higher evidence exists, according to the testimony of the Bible itself, than that of an obscure priest and a fanatical king.

1937. If we are to judge of the Jewish priesthood by the example afforded by Samuel, we have no more reason to trust a Hebrew pontiff than a Romish pope, (1091.) Bishop Hopkins has sufficiently shown how far priests are to be trusted, (1296.) What would be said of any book, alleged to be due to Divine inspiration, if it had, agreeably to its own authority, an origin no more reliable than the allegation of a priest

that it had been found in a temple or church, there being no other evidence of its not having been forged by the priest, or his accomplices, than his own allegation? What better evidence would there be of the sacred origin of such a document, than there is of the Book of Mormon— the Bible brought forward by Joe Smith? Yet the following quotation will show that there was no Bible in use in Judea in the reign of Josiah, 350 years after the reign of David, and just before the Babylonian captivity; and that, in consequence, idolatry had to a great extent superseded the true worship.

1938. Under these circumstances, the high priest alleged a copy of the Bible to be found, and sent it by a scribe to the king. This monarch had lived in such ignorance of the existence of this holy code, that he was thrown into a state of such deep penitence for the sinful omissions arising from his ignorance, as to rend his clothes by way of expressing his sorMoreover, orders were forthwith given to have the abuses abated, which had been introduced solely through ignorance.

row.

1939. I view this evidence of the highest importance at this time, when such men as Mahan, and the anonymous author of the parodied letter, (1182,) are appealing to the Bible as the inspired word of God, and thus making God sanction a catalogue of atrocious crimes and indecencies, and when this imposture is to sit as an incubus on those truly moral impressions which the blessed spirits of the immortal Washington and other worthies, as well as my honoured father, would communicate for the amelioration of the religion and morals of mankind. I repeat, that I consider it of immense importance that attention should be called to the questionable foundation on which these pretensions to inspiration are erected. I shall, therefore, not only quote a portion of these pretended words of God, but also that part of a chapter in the Book of Josephus which narrates the same all-important occurrence more fully and satisfactorily, though giving the same evidence essentially.

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Scriptural Account of the Finding of the Books of Moses by Hilkiah, the High Priest.-2 Chron. xxxiv.; 2 Kings xxii.

1940. "And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses. And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it. And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen. Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and

Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king's, saying, Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel, and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book. And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college :) and they spake to her to that effect. And she answered them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah: because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched. And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard; because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord. Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again. Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. And all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.'

Account of the Finding of the Books of Moses, by Josephus. 1941. "The repairs of the temple being completed, and all expenses defrayed, Hilkiah, in conformity to the king's orders, took out the money for the purpose of converting it into vessels for the use of the temple; and, upon removing the gold, happened to discover the sacred books of Moses. This he took out and gave to Shaphan, the king's secretary, to peruse, who, upon reading them over, went to the king, accompanied by Hilkiah, who told him that he had executed all his commands relative to the reparation of the temple, and at the same time presented the book to him in great form, assuring him what it was, and where they had found it.

1942. "The king ordered Shaphan to read a part of the contents, which being done, he rent his robes, in dread of the heavy curses denounced against a wicked generation. In the height of his affliction, he desired the secretary, with Hilkiah, and several priests who were present, to go to the prophetess Huldah, the wife of Shallum, a man of eminence, and unite their endeavours to prevail upon her to make intercession with God for pardon toward himself and his subjects. He told them there was great reason to apprehend that the vengeance of Heaven would fall upon the present generation as a punishment for the iniquity of their progenitors, and particularly their neglect and contempt of the laws of Moses; and that, without obtaining a reconciliation, they should be dispersed over the face of the earth, and terminate their lives in misery.

1943. "Hilkiah, with those who were appointed to accompany him, immediately repaired to the prophetess, and having related the cause of the king's affliction, and his earnest desire of her intercession with Heaven in behalf of him and his subjects, she bade them return him this answer: That the sentence already pronounced was not to be recalled on any supplication or intercession whatever. That the people were to be banished from their own country, and punished for their disobedience with the loss of all human comforts. That the judgment was irrevocable, for their obstinately persisting in their superstitious and idolatrous practices, notwithstanding so many warnings to a timely repentance, and the menacing predictions of the prophets, if they persevered in their abominations.

1944. "This unchangeable decree was to show, by the event, that there is a just and overruling Disposer of all things, and the predictions which he delivered by the means of the prophets will be infallibly verified, as the certain indications of his whole will respecting mankind. The prophetess added, "Tell the king, however, that, in consideration of his own. pious and virtuous example, the judgment shall be averted from the people during his days; but that the day of his death shall be the eve of their final destruction.'

1945. "As soon as Josiah received this message from the prophetess, he immediately despatched messengers to the several cities within his dominions, commanding all the priests and Levites, and men of all ages and conditions, to repair with the utmost speed to Jerusalem. These orders being obeyed, and the people assembled, the king went to the temple, where, in the hearing of the whole multitude, he caused the laws of God, as contained in the books of Moses, to be distinctly read; after which he bound himself and the people, with their universal consent, by a most solemn oath, strictly to observe every article contained in the sacred books, respecting the laws and religion established by Moses. This solemn oath was followed by prayers and oblations for the divine blessing and protection. 1946. "The king strictly enjoined the high priest to take a particular account of the plate and vessel in the temple, and to cast out so many of them as they should find to have been dedicated by any of his ancestors to idolatrous services. Those that were found were reduced to dust, and in that state thrown into the air. All the priests were likewise put to death, that were not of the flock of Aaron.

1947. “Having effected this reformation in Jerusalem, Josiah made a progress throughout his whole dominions, where he destroyed all the relics. of Jeroboam's superstition and idolatry, and burnt the bones of false prophets, upon the very altar which that impious king had set up. Of this

we have taken notice before, as well as the intervention of the prophet, with a prediction in the hearing of the multitude, at the time when Jeroboam was offering sacrifice, 'That one of the race of David, Josiah by name, was to do this.' The prediction was verified, by the event, three hundred and fifty-one years after it was foretold.

1948. "So ardent was the zeal of Josiah for extending the great work of reformation, that he went in person to several of the Israelites who had escaped the Assyrian bondage, in order to dissuade them from continuing in superstition, and prevail with them to embrace the pure religion of their forefathers, according to the long established custom of their country. Nor did he rest here, but caused the towns and villages to be searched for the discovery of any remains of idolatrous practices that might lie concealed. The very figures of the horses over the porch of the temple, which their forefathers had dedicated to the sun, and all the monuments to which the people had ascribed divine honour, were, by his special order, taken away and destroyed.

1949. "Having thus purged the whole nation from idolatry, and fully restored the true worship of the one only and true God, he called an assembly of the people at Jerusalem, for the purpose of celebrating the passover, the time for that festival being near at hand. On this occasion the king gave out of his own store, for paschal sacrifices, thirty goats, a thousand lambs, and three thousand oxen. The heads of the priests pre

sented to the others of the sacerdotal order two thousand six hundred lambs, and the chief of the Levites gave to their tribes five thousand lambs, and five hundred oxen. A solemn sacrifice was made of these victims, according to the precepts of Moses, and the ceremony was performed under the direction of the priests. From the time of the prophet Samuel to that day, there had never been a festival celebrated with equal solemnity; for this had the allowed preference, because the whole was conducted in strict conformity to the very letter of the laws, and the precise mode of their forefathers. Josiah, after the accomplishment of a work of such moment and importance to the nation in general, enjoyed his government in honour, peace, and plenty, till he closed his life."-Book 10, page 153.

If the Pentateuch had been previously known to the Jews, it is incredible that it could have become obsolete and forgotten prior to the alleged discovery of it in the Temple, in the reign of Josiah.

1950. After the Pentateuch had been viewed as the word of God, made known to a people as their peculiar inheritance, lifting them, in their own estimation, above the rest of mankind, as God's chosen people, this code being the sole authority for their bloody and rapacious course toward their neighbours, is it credible that such a document, had it ever existed, could have become both obsolete and forgotten ?* Yet we have no alternative

* It is a remarkable fact that, although in later times the Jews have been so frequently named after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it does not appear to have been customary during the time which intervened between the supposed era of Moses and that of the finding of the Pentateuch in the temple.

This serves to show that the Pentateuch is a fabrication of the priesthood and King Josiah.