T HE Eliminator has now been before the public nearly two years. I have seen nothing worthy of the name of criticism respecting it. A few Unitarian ministers have said that Christ must have been a person instead of a personification, for the reason that men could not have conceived of such a perfect character without a living example, and that the great influence exercised by him for so long a time, over so many people, proves him to have been an historic character. These arguments are anticipat

M any things in this book will greatly shock, and even give heartfelt pain to, numerous persons whom I greatly respect. I have a large share of the love of approbation, and naturally desire the good opinion of those with whom I have been associated in a long life. There is no pleasure in the fact that I have to stand quite alone in the eyes of nearly all Christendom. There is no satisfaction in being deemed a disturber of the peace of the great majority of those “professing and calling themselve

“For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, neither hid that shall not be known. Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness, shall be heard in the light, and that which ye have spoken in the ear, in closets, shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.”—Luke 12: 2, 3. T HE assumption is general that if the faith of the common people should be unsettled as to some things which they have heretofore been taught regarding religion, they would immediately reject all truth, and fall int

“The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money.”—Micah 3: 11. “Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.”—1 Sam. 2: 36. T HE cognomens priest, prophet, presbyter, preacher, parson, and pastor have certain things in common, and these titles may therefore be used interchangeably. As far back as history extends, the office or order now represented by the clerical profession existed.

I T is impossible to understand modern Christian ecclesiasticism without a careful study of ancient Judaism. It is reported that Jesus himself said, “ Salvation is of the Jews. ” The gospel was to be preached “to the Jews first.” The common belief to-day is, that the Christian Church represents the substance of what Judaism was the promise, and that the New Testament contains the fulfilment and realization of what was foreshadowed in the Old Testament. All well-informed theologians understand th

“But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart.”—2 Cor. 3:15. T HE first five books of the Old Testament, supposed by many to have been written by Moses, are called the Pentateuch. In the early chapters of Genesis, in the “Authorized Version,” there is placed at the head of the page in the margin, “a. m. 1,” which mean Anno Mundi—the year of the world—one, and immediately below it are the letters “b. c.”—which mean Before Christ—“4004.” This is the system of chronology

“Which things are an allegory.”—Gal. 4:24. W ORSHIP is natural to man, and all systems of religion, many think, received their cult from Nature-worship. Typology, mythology, theology followed each other as the links of a well-forged chain. Cicero well suggested: “Do you not see how, from the beginning, from the productions of nature and the useful inventions of men have arisen fictitious and imaginary deities, which have been the foundations of false opinions, pernicious errors, and miserable su

“Therefore they took a key and opened them.”—Judg. 3: 25. I T is the carefully-formed conclusion of many independent thinkers that there is very little real history or biography in the Old-Testament Scriptures. It is a monstrous mistake in modern ministers to take as literal what is, in fact, strictly allegorical. The figurative character of most of the Bible narratives was well known and freely admitted by many ancient writers, Jewish and Christian, as will be shown hereafter. It would be natur

“And calleth those things which be not as though they were.”—Rom. 4:17. T HE prevailing belief of Christendom to-day is, that about six thousand years ago, somewhere in Asia, the Supreme Creator took common clay and moulded it into the form of a man, somewhat as a sculptor forms the model from which the marble statue is to be constructed, and when shaped to his liking he breathed into the clay model the breath of life, and it became a living soul. This miraculous work is believed to have been be

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”... “And so it is written, the first Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.”—1 Cob. 15: 22-45. T HE claim of sacerdotalism is substantially as follows: Adam was the first man and the sole progenitor of the entire human race. When he fell, all his progeny “sinned in him and fell with him in the first transgression.” Death was first introduced in the world by Adam’s sin, and life is restored by Ch

“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me.”—John 5: 39. W E of course use the above passage as a motto, as the writer must have referred to the Old-Testament Scriptures, as the New Testament was not yet in existence. As this book is the sole dependence in finding evidence regarding Jesus, we naturally first inquire as to what is known of it. We find this volume to be made up of twenty-seven small tracts or pamphlets, fastened togethe

“Great is the mystery of godliness.”—1 Tim. 3:16. “We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery.”—1 Cor. 2:7. “I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say.”—1 Cor. 10:15. I N early times every prominent religious teacher had his own gospel, as Paul asserts that he had his. The books that were canonized did not by any means shape the belief of the early Christians, but, on the contrary, their beliefs shaped the character of the books. “The question of a ‘Catholic canon,’” says Professor Davidson, “was

“What think ye of Christ? Whose son was he?”—Matt. 22: 42. N EARLY a quarter of a century ago (1868) a very remarkable pamphlet was published by request of the Free Religious Association, written by that remarkable man, the Rev. Samuel Johnson, a Unitarian minister and an author of no little repute. The subject was The Worship of Jesus. It had a very limited circulation, and the stereotype plates were destroyed in the great Boston fire, and it is now very difficult to find a copy. Mr. Johnson ta

“Come now, let us reason together.”—Isa. 1:18. “Let me reason the case with thee.”—Jer. 12: 1. T HAT there should be held so many different views concerning the character and work of Christ is itself a very suggestive circumstance. It implies that the evidence in the case is not direct and clear, and that there are grounds for doubt and uncertainty. That honest, well-meaning men should be left in doubt regarding the most wonderful event in history, involving their salvation, is still more astoun

W E say “reverent” out of pure regard to the feelings of multitudes of devout persons who verily believe that Jesus was and is God, and so any criticism of him is simply blasphemous. This subject is not to be treated in a light or frivolous manner. We say “reverent” also out of respect to a smaller number of so-called liberals who deny the divinity of Christ, but who nevertheless believe that Jesus was the one pre-eminently good and wise man, and that no man equal to him ever existed or ever wil

“Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.”—John 6:12. GNOSTICISM. S INCE preparing Chapter XI., on The Ideal Christ , and quoting freely from Mr. Gerald Massey regarding the Gnostics, some doubts have been suggested as to the soundness of his views. We have therefore carefully reviewed this matter, and can find no reason to abate one tittle from the conclusions presented by this painstaking and able writer. The word gnosis , meaning knowledge , does not apply exclusively to a p

“And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without the shedding of blood there is no remission.”—Heb. 9: 22. “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”—! John 1: 5. I T would be tedious to quote even one-tenth of the passages from the New Testament in which salvation is ascribed to the blood of Jesus. Indeed, from Genesis to Revelation sacrificial blood seems to be the one prominent theme. The salvation of Christ is emphatically the salvation by blood, and t

“That those things which cannot be shaken may remain.”—Heb. 12: 27. I N the preceding chapters we have shown that in our judgment the time has fully come for the fearless proclamation of the whole truth, regardless of temporary consequences. We think that we have also shown that for many important reasons we cannot expect the whole truth from the professional clergy. We have shown that the Jews are not the very ancient and numerous people that they have been supposed to have been, and that many