irs of life and its living.

PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION

The most eloquent testimony given this little book is the fact that a
second edition is made necessary only a few months after the publication
of the first edition.

Favorable comments and letters of recommendation from men and women
eminent in literary and scientific realms, and commendatory reviews in
periodicals of high standard are, I think, sufficient cause for the
belief that "The Tyranny of God" forms a necessary cog in the machinery
of intellectual thought and progress.

Even those who bitterly oppose the book admit that it possesses the
power to make its readers think.

Of the many opposing reviews and adverse criticism of "The Tyranny of
God," not a single one offers an argument in answer to it. For the most
part, their characterization has been that it is "pessimistic." As if by
calling it "pessimistic," they refute its claims!

If to tell a man the true nature of a disease from which he is
suffering, with the hope that he will seek a cure for his malady, is
pessimism, then I am a pessimist. Is the use of a danger signal at a
hazardous crossing, for the purpose of preventing disaster, pessimism?

If to literally "hold the mirror up to Nature," disclosing Nature's
utter disregard for the life and feelings of man, as a warning against
the extravagant and useless propagating of life, is pessimism, then
surely I am a pessimist.

If a fervent desire to help Man, instead of wasting time in prayer to
"God," is pessimism, I am a pessimist.

If to think, to investigate, to express one's thoughts courageously in
the face of centuries old dogma is pessimism, then I must confess I am a
pessimist.

If to expose sham, hypocrisy and fraud; if to open the mind and free it
from fear; if to stimulate the intellect, and work for the Here instead
of the "Hereafter"--if all these are classified as pessimism, then truly
may I be called an arch pessimist.

"The Tyranny of God" was written to express the truth as I see it--to
portray life, not as we would like to have it, but as it actually is.

Millions are still like frightened children, afraid of their own
shadows. Fear of the truth is the greatest deterrent to its acceptance.

JOSEPH LEWIS

_April 14, 1922_

PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION

I am indeed gratified to send forth the fourth edition of "The Tyranny
of God."

I wish, however, to