Inventors—Magellan—Copernicus—Bruno—Galileo—Kepler, Herschel,
Newton, and LaPlace—Lyell—What the Worldly have Done—Origin and
Vicissitudes of the Bible—The Septuagint—Investigating the Phenomena
of Nature—IV. We thank the Good Men and Good Women of the Past—The
Poets, Dramatists, and Artists—The Statesmen—Paine, Jefferson,
Ericsson, Lincoln. Grant—Voltaire, Humboldt, Darwin.

A LAY SERMON.

(1886.)
Prayer of King Lear—When Honesty wears a Rag and Rascality a Robe-The
Nonsense of "Free Moral Agency "—Doing Right is not Self-denial-Wealth
often a Gilded Hell—The Log House—Insanity of Getting
More—Great Wealth the Mother of Crime—Separation of Rich and
Poor—Emulation—Invention of Machines to Save Labor—Production and
Destitution—The Remedy a Division of the Land—Evils of Tenement
Houses—Ownership and Use—The Great Weapon is the Ballot—Sewing
Women—Strikes and Boycotts of No Avail—Anarchy, Communism, and
Socialism—The Children of the Rich a Punishment for Wealth—Workingmen
Not a Danger—The Criminals a Necessary Product—Society's Right
to Punish—The Efficacy of Kindness—Labor is Honorable—Mental
Independence.

THE FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH.

(1895.)
I. The Old Testament—Story of the Creation—Age of the Earth and
of Man—Astronomical Calculations of the Egyptians—The Flood—The
Firmament a Fiction—Israelites who went into Egypt—Battles of the
Jews—Area of Palestine—Gold Collected by David for the Temple—II. The
New Testament—Discrepancies about the Birth of Christ—Herod and
the Wise Men—The Murder of the Babes of Bethlehem—When was Christ
born—Cyrenius and the Census of the World—Genealogy of Christ
according to Matthew and Luke—The Slaying of Zacharias—Appearance of
the Saints at the Crucifixion—The Death of Judas Iscariot—Did
Christ wish to be Convicted?—III. Jehovah—IV. The Trinity—The
Incarnation—Was Christ God?—The Trinity Expounded—"Let us pray"—V.
The Theological Christ—Sayings of a Contradictory Character—Christ a
Devout Jew—An ascetic—His Philosophy—The Ascension—The Best that Can
be Said about Christ—The Part that is beautiful and Glorious—The Other
Side—VI. The Scheme of Redemption—VII. Belief—Eternal Pain—No Hope
in Hell, Pity in Heaven, or Mercy in the Heart of God—VIII. Conclusion.

SUPERSTITION.

(1898.)
I. What is Superstition?—Popular Beliefs about the Significance
of Signs, Lucky and Unlucky Numbers, Days, Accidents, Jewels,
etc.—Eclipses, Earthquakes, and Cyclones as Omens—Signs and Wonders
of the Heavens—Efficacy of Bones and Rags of Saints—Diseases and
Devils—II. Witchcraft—Necromancers—What is a Miracle?—The Uniformity
of Nature—III. Belief in the Existence of Good Spirits or Angels—God
and the Devil—When Everything was done by the Supernatural—IV. All
these Beliefs now Rejected by Men of Intelligence—The Devil's Success
Made the Coming of Christ a Necessity—"Thou shalt not Suffer a Witch
to Live"—Some Biblical Angels—Vanished Visions—V. Where are Heaven
and Hell?—Prayers Never Answered—The Doctrine of Design—Why Worship
our Ignorance?—Would God Lead us into Temptation?—President McKinley's
Thanks giving for the Santiago Victory—VI. What Harm Does Superstition
Do?—The Heart Hardens and the Brain Softens—What Superstition has Done
and Taught—Fate of Spain—Of Portugal, Austria, Germany—VII. Inspired
Books—Mysteries added to by the Explanations of Theologians—The
Inspired Bible the Greatest Curse of Christendom—VIII. Modifications
of Jehovah—Changing the Bible—IX. Centuries of Darkness—The Church
Triumphant—When Men began to Think—X. Possibly these Superstitions are
True, but We have no Evidence—We Believe in the Natural—Science is the
Real Redeemer.

THE DEVIL.

(1899.)
I. If the Devil should Die, would God Make Another?—How was the Idea
of a Devil Produced—Other Devils than Ours—Natural Origin of these
Monsters—II. The Atlas of Christianity is The Devil—The Devil of the
Old Testament—The Serpent in Eden—"Personifications" of Evil—Satan
and Job—Satan and David—III. Take the Devil from the Drama
of Christianity and the Plot is Gone—Jesus Tempted by the Evil
One—Demoniac Possession—Mary Magdalene—Satan and Judas—Incubi
and Succubi—The Apostles believed in Miracles and Magic—The Pool of
Bethesda—IV. The Evidence of the Church—The Devil was forced to
Father the Failures of God—Belief of the Fathers of the Church
in Devils—Exorcism at the Baptism of an Infant in the Sixteenth
Century—Belief in Devils made the Universe a Madhouse presided over by
an Insane God—V. Personifications of the Devil—The Orthodox Ostrich
Thrusts his Head into the Sand—If Devils are Personifications so are
all the Other Characters of the Bible—VI. Some Queries about the
Devil, his Place of Residence, his Manner of Living, and his Object in
Life—Interrogatories to the Clergy—VII. The Man of Straw the Master
of the Orthodox Ministers—His recent Accomplishments—VIII. Keep the
Devils out of Children—IX. Conclusion.—Declaration of the Free.

PROGRESS.

(1860-64.)
The Prosperity of the World depends upon its Workers—Veneration for the
Ancient—Credulity and Faith of the Middle Ages—Penalty for Reading
the Scripture in the Mother Tongue—Unjust, Bloody, and Cruel Laws—The
Reformers too were Persecutors—Bigotry of Luther and Knox—Persecution
of Castalio—Montaigne against Torture in France—"Witchcraft" (chapter
on)—Confessed Wizards—A Case before Sir Matthew Hale—Belief
in Lycanthropy—Animals Tried and Executed—Animals received
as Witnesses—The Corsned or Morsel of Execution—Kepler an
Astrologer—Luther's Encounter with the Devil—Mathematician
Stoefflers, Astronomical Prediction of a Flood—Histories Filled with
Falsehood—Legend about the Daughter of Pharaoh invading Scotland and
giving the Country her name—A Story about Mohammed—A History of the
Britains written by Archdeacons—Ingenuous Remark of Eusebius—Progress
in the Mechanic Arts—England at the beginning of the Eighteenth
Century—Barbarous Punishments—Queen Elizabeth's Order Concerning
Clergymen and Servant Girls—Inventions of Watt, Arkwright, and
Others—Solomon's Deprivations—Language (chapter on)—Belief that the
Hebrew was< the original Tongue—Speculations about the Language
of Paradise—Geography (chapter on)—The Works of Cosmas—Printing
Invented—Church's Opposition to Books—The Inquisition—The
Reformation—"Slavery" (chapter on)—Voltaire's Remark on Slavery as
a Contract—White Slaves in Greece, Rome, England, Scotland, and
France—Free minds make Free