synonymous words. Fanaticism is the defense of superstition and hallucination.

The early Christians, in their overzeal to extend and broaden faith, made the great blunder of rejecting science and antagonizing philosophy and learning, to conceal the Kabbalistic origin of many of their dogmas. Their fanaticism led them into senseless indiscretions. It was truly the blind leading the blind. To establish blind faith, they had to blind their own senses to the fact that, established wisdom may be hindered, but it may not be destroyed, by burning up the written records. Tradition is no respecter of persons; it is as fair to science with its vindicating truths, as it is to the blundering nonsense of the Christian inventions, which attempt to give foundation in fact to fabulous scriptures and manifestly fictitious gospels.

In these modern times, with the world filled with revolution and uncertainty, we have no assurance that the Christian fanatics may not come into legislative control, and by the extension of its offensive so-called blue laws, attempt to condemn, seize and burn all the scientific literature offensive to it, as it did in previous periods. We have repeatedly declared that this power today is identical with that which mothered the murderous inquisition. It is the same narrow, mean, vindictive, vengeful force, whetted to greater resentment by the great discoveries made by science which put upon the Christian pretensions the stamp of falsehood, and, reveals its mysteries as mere natural phenomena which long ago should have been taught to children in the common schools of the nation.

The literal teaching of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon and Jesus Christ should be forbidden by law, that the true underlying principles of nature may be known to all men alike.

The first step towards the censoring of the future literature, will be an attempt to control the press, and forbid the publication of all literature offensive to Ecclesiasticism in fulfillment of the warning of Cardinal Wolsey.

"If the church does not suppress the press, the press will suppress the church."

While the God of Christianity of today is admittedly but a hypothesis, nevertheless, the teachings of centuries have poisoned the whole human system, and the intoxication of the licensed fanatical mob is as potent today as back in the bloody centuries. Like a rat which gnaws its way through the bottom of the bin, it is not discovered until it has multiplied into myriads of rats, consuming a large portion of the contents and tainting all the balance.

As a hypothesis, the argument has not established the Christian God by facts; hence, the theory is condemned, or the argument is unfinished.

Ecclesiasticism, as a political power, is a living fact. It matters, therefore, little what the world may think concerning the Christian God. The original goal of the system is practically attained.

The "kingdom of God," the same hypothetical, unproven God, is secretly established in the control of ecclesiastic political power, the balance of power in world government and the key to heaven and hell upon earth.

Some one has declared that the spiritual powers of the church are weakened by its attempt to usurp temporal power. That is true enough, but reaction is equal to action; this weakened spiritual force is recompensed by a strengthened physical force. Usurpation does not work along such flimsy lines. It knows its weakest points and fortifies them. It may, however, be truthfully said, that the temporal power weakens, when it attempts to absorb into the temporal regime certain unproven and so-called spiritual schemes for the better moral development of mankind. It surrenders basic prerogatives, to foolish experimentation.

The degree of silent, and sometimes turbulent, rebellion and revolution of a nation, may be guaged by the number and effects of certain so-called blue-laws which the church can insidiously

slip into the code. The people resent this "spiritual" interference with the natural trend of government, and civil rights.

Because of its long standing, and its open alliance with government, the people fear to openly denounce the church. Nevertheless they know its flimsy foundation, and seize upon such occasions as the drastic application of some restrictive law, to vent their wrath. But the church sits in the background, with complacent mien, and smug piety.

Any institution which starts its chosen people with the command that they rob and steal is not religious. Any institution which chooses a usurper as the father of its adopted followers, is not religious.

Any institution which compares the coming of its god with the acts of a thief is not religious.

Any institution which declares that wars are essential to the promotion of the best interests of humanity is not religious. Any institution which preaches vengeance and wrath against humanity because it refuses to bow down to its unauthorized and unwarranted assumption of power, holds no friendly interest in the welfare of humanity.

All that is Ecclesiasticism.

PART XVII

IMMORTALITY

(Only the universal pabulum is immortal.)

The unthinking masses have been taught to believe that each individual here on this earth, and billions who have died, possess a soul, whatever that may imply, which is subject to about all that may befall the human body, including a well defined Ecclesiastical commerce.

The Hebrew ideal of a man was three-fold: the body, or material part; the vital part, seat of sensations, passions, etc., and the sentient thinking, or spiritual part.

The physical body cannot be the immortal part, because it is subject to dissolution after, death. To teach the doctrine of the actual resurrection of the physical body is wrong.

Numbers 16:22 speaks of the spirits of all flesh, intimating that a man may have more than one spirit. Moreover, I Thess. 5:23, intimates that only a part of the spirit may be saved:

"And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless."

Hebrew 4:12 speaks of “dividing asunder of soul and spirit," signifying different entities, for, to be individualized they must be entities.

Isn't it absurd to believe that thought and sensation may be separated in a living body? Well, it is just as inconsistent to believe that God can store away a bundle of souls under his altar. (Rev. 6:9.)

There were no Christian altars for 135 years after Christ. The first Christian altar in Great Britain was in 634. The Church of England and all the reform churches long ago abolished the name altar, and the doctrine that supported it.

Let us not be deceived regarding immortality of the soul,

and the resurrection of a disintegrated body to slip on like a garment.

The resurrection of the individual body long after its death, to be reinhabited by its former soul, is not only a myth, but a mean deception to attract the ignorant masses to the church. Every scientific and logical evidence forbids belief in such nonsense, and the Bible when properly interpreted, does not teach such a fabulous doctrine.

As for the so-called soul itself, it is but an imaginary thing, having no scientific or philosophical standing. Its alleged individual existence after the death of the body is merely an invention of the Ecclesiasts for commercial purposes, as is the fabulous purgatory to which it is consigned.

The Bible itself defines a soul as a living, breathing, physical being.

"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: and man became a living soul." (Gen. 2:7.)

Is there anything in this which defines a soul separate from the physical body? On the contrary, if breathing the “breath of life" into a physical body converts it into a living soul, evidently, taking the breath out of the same body desouls it, the breath of life returning to the atmosphere from whence it came, and the body to the dust from whence it came. This is the only breath of life for the human being known to science.

"For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; as the one dieth so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that man hath no pre-eminence above a beast.

"All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. "Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?" (Ecc. 3:19-20-21.)

Thus even their own scripture denies the doctrine. Their Christ is the "son of man." The Bible tells us so in 84 different passages.

Immortality, as preached by the Ecclesiastic system, is a