A Mere Society Form Of

The Atheist Does Not Say 'there Is No God,' But He Says 'i Know Not What You Mean By God; I Am Without Idea Of God'; The Word 'god' Is To Me A Sound Conveying No Clear Or Distinct Affirmation. ... The Bible God I Deny; The Christian God I Disbelieve In; But I Am Not Rash Enough To Say There Is No God As Long As You Tell Me You Are Unprepared To Define God To Me.

Idle And Meaningless ... A Form Less Solemn To Me Than The Affirmation I Would Have Reverently Made.

No Religion Is Suddenly Rejected By Any People; It Is Rather Gradually Outgrown. None Sees A Religion Die; Dead Religions Are Like Dead Languages And Obsolete Customs: The Decay Is Long And - Like The Glacier March - Is Perceptible Only To The Careful Watcher By Comparisons Extending Over Long Periods.

A Ground Frequently Taken By Christian Theologians Is That The Progress And Civilization Of The World Are Due To Christianity; And The Discussion Is Complicated By The Fact That Many Eminent Servants Of Humanity Have Been Nominal Christians, Of One Or Other Of The Sects. My Allegation Will Be That The Special Services Rendered To Human Progress By These Exceptional Men Have Not Been In Consequence Of Their Adhesion To Christianity, But In Spite Of It, And That The Specific Points Of Advantage To Human Kind Have Been In Ratio Of Their Direct Opposition To Precise Biblical Enactments.

[that] My Body Be Buried As Cheaply As Possible And No Speeches Be Permitted At My Funeral.