452 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ing the truth., or to say what he believes to be untrue, because of 

 the supposed injurious consequences to morality. " Beloved breth- 

 ren, that we may be spotlessly moral, before all things let us lie," 

 is the sum total of many an exhortation addressed to the "in- 

 fidel." Now, as I have already pointed out, we can not oblige our 

 exhorters. We leave the practical application of the convenient 

 doctrines of "reserve" and "non-natural interpretation" to those 

 who invented them. 



I trust that I have now made amends for any ambiguity, or 

 want of fullness, in my previous exposition of that which I hold 

 to be the essence of the agnostic doctrine. Henceforward, I might 

 hope to hear no more of the assertion that we are necessarily ma- 

 terialists, idealists, atheists, theists, or any other ists, if experience 

 had led me to think that the proved falsity of a statement was 

 any guarantee against its repetition. And those who appreciate 

 the nature of our position will see, at once, that when ecclesiasti- 

 cism declares that we ought to believe this, that, and the other, 

 and are very wicked if we don't, it is impossible for us to give any 

 answer but this : We have not the slightest objection to believe 

 anything you like, if you will give us good grounds for belief ; 

 but, if you can not, we must respectfully refuse, even if that re- 

 fusal should wreck morality and insure our own damnation several 

 times over. We are quite content to leave that to the decision of 

 the future. The course of the past has impressed us with the 

 firm conviction that no good ever comes of falsehood, and we feel 

 warranted in refusing even to experiment in that direction. 



In the course of the present discussion it has been asserted that 

 the " Sermon on the Mount " and the " Lord's Prayer " furnish a 

 summary and condensed view of the essentials of the teaching of 

 Jesus of Nazareth, set forth by himself. Now this supposed Sum- 

 ma of Nazarene theology distinctly affirms the existence of a spir- 

 itual world, of a heaven, and of a hell of fire; it teaches the 

 fatherhood of God and the malignity of the devil ; it declares the 

 superintending providence of the former and our need of deliver- 

 ance from the machinations of the latter ; it affirms the fact of 

 demoniac possession and the power of casting out devils by the 

 faithful. And, from these premises, the conclusion is drawn that 

 those agnostics who deny that there is any evidence of such a 

 character as to justify certainty, respecting the existence and the 

 nature of the spiritual world, contradict the express declarations 

 of Jesus. I have replied to this argumentation by showing that 

 there is strong reason to doubt the historical accuracy of the 

 attribution to Jesus of either the "Sermon on the Mount" or the 

 " Lord's Prayer " ; and, therefore, that the conclusion in question 

 is not warranted, at any rate on the grounds set forth. 



