MISTAKES of MOSES

By Robert G. Ingersoll.

The Destroyer Of Weeds, Thistles And Thorns, Is A Benefactor Whether He Soweth Grain Or Not.

1880.

MRS. SUE M. FARRELL

IN LAW MY SISTER;

AND IN FACT MY FRIEND,

THIS VOLUME,

AS A TOKEN OF RESPECT AND LOVE,

IS DEDICATED.

CONTENTS

PREFACE.


I.   SOME MISTAKES OF MOSES

II.   FREE SCHOOLS

III.   THE POLITICIANS

IV.   MAN AND WOMAN

V.   THE PENTATEUCH

VI.   MONDAY

VII.   TUESDAY

VIII.   WEDNESDAY

IX.   THURSDAY

X.   "HE MADE THE STARS ALSO"

XI.   FRIDAY

XII.   SATURDAY

XIII.   LET US MAKE MAN

XIV.   SUNDAY

XV.   THE NECESSITY FOR A GOOD MEMORY

XVI.   THE GARDEN

XVII.   THE FALL

XVIII.   DAMPNESS

XIX.   BACCHUS AND BABEL

XX.   FAITH IN FILTH

XXI.   THE HEBREWS

XXII.   THE PLAGUES

XXIII.   THE FLIGHT

XXIV.   CONFESS AND AVOID

XXV.   "INSPIRED" SLAVERY

XXVI.   "INSPIRED" MARRIAGE

XXVII.   "INSPIRED" WAR

XXVIII.    "INSPIRED" RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

XXIX.   CONCLUSION

PREFACE.

For many years I have regarded the Pentateuch simply as a record of a barbarous people, in which are found a great number of the ceremonies of savagery, many absurd and unjust laws, and thousands of ideas inconsistent with known and demonstrated facts. To me it seemed almost a crime to teach that this record was written by inspired men; that slavery, polygamy, wars of conquest and extermination were right, and that there was a time when men could win the approbation of infinite Intelligence, Justice, and Mercy, by violating maidens and by butchering babes. To me it seemed more reasonable that savage men had made these laws; and I endeavored in a lecture, entitled "Some Mistakes of Moses," to point out some of the errors, contradictions, and impossibilities contained in the Pentateuch. The lecture was never written and consequently never delivered twice the same. On several occasions it was reported and published without consent, and without revision. All these publications were grossly and glaringly incorrect. As published, they have been answered several hundred times, and many of the clergy are still engaged in the great work. To keep these reverend gentlemen from wasting their talents on the mistakes of reporters and printers, I concluded to publish the principal points in all my lectures on this subject. And here, it may be proper for me to say, that arguments cannot be answered by personal abuse; that there is no logic in slander, and that falsehood, in the long run, defeats itself. People who love their enemies should, at least, tell the truth about their friends. Should it turn out that I am the worst man in the whole world, the story of the flood will remain just as improbable as before, and the