pter he says, "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them, otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in Heaven."
Here he expressly commands people to show their good works, but later he says: "Let not thy right hand know what thy left hand doeth," and commands his followers not to permit their philanthropies to be known. What a ridiculous thing it is for him to say: "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee, for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." Then he repeats about cutting off the offending hand. The result of this commandment has caused many weak-minded people to injure themselves, and only a few years ago a Canadian priest cut off his hand with a hatchet.
Christ's statement as to divorce is unreasonable. It is not the fault of two people that they are unable to live happily together. Why then should either or both be condemned to eternal hell fire because they divorce each other? Not only does Christ threaten them with hell fire, but the people they marry, according to Christ, also commit adultery and are subject to eternal damnation.
Some Biblical followers quote the Biblical instruction -- "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." Others, to satisfy their demands, quote Christ's saying -- "Resist not evil, but whoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." How does this contrast with the philosophy, later expressed by Christ of setting people against each other?
Besides this, it is a ridiculous thing and of no benefit in any way for people to encourage other people to injure them. Rational intelligence indicates that being good to other people when they are good to you, and protecting yourself against those who are injuring you, is the sensible way of life.
But let us consider whether the Christian followers have paid any attention to "turning the other cheek" -- "to returning good for evil." Down through the centuries the intolerant church leaders have burned at the stake, tortured, imprisoned, or massacred those who did not believe exactly as the religious leaders believed. Was that following the commandment to turn the other cheek?
Christ later exhorts his followers to "Enter into thy closet and pray and not to do it from the house tops," yet practically all of the religious congregations since that time pray loudly and publicly.
Another of Christ's philosophies is against thrift and saving.
He tells men to "take no thought of the morrow, to lay up no treasures," and if his suggestions were carried out we would have a nation of paupers expecting to be fed from heaven. Suppose everyone followed Christ's saying -- "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body what ye shall put on.... Behold the fowls of the air, they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly father feeds them." Of course, Christ does not tell of the terrific struggle that goes on among birds and other animals for survival; or how the birds fight, scratch, hunt, and dig all day for enough to eat, and how they must be vigilant against all kinds of enemies. As a rule they lead a very fearful life and few die of natural causes. If God is warden over the birds and the animals, he certainly is a poor protector, for many of them are wounded, injured in fights, starved, frozen, and torn to pieces by their fellows at the least sign of weakness or sickness.
At one place, Christ says: "Which of you, by thought, can add one cubit to his stature?" But in another place Christ claims "Thy faith can do anything, even to moving mountains."
Christ exhorts his followers to seek the kingdom of God, and for centuries priests and preachers have exhorted their followers to seek the kingdom of God. But what is the kingdom of God? Most of the priests and preachers have had different ideas as to what the kingdom of God is, and certainly the garbled accounts, exhortations and preachings of Christ give no idea as to what men a