venue, probably we had better pay
some of our debts. I would suggest, as a last resort, to pay a
few honest claims.

_Question_. Are you getting nearer to or farther away from God,
Christianity and the Bible?

_Answer_. In the first place, as Mr. Locke so often remarked, we
will define our terms. If by the word "God" is meant a person, a
being, who existed before the creation of the universe, and who
controls all that is, except himself, I do not believe in such a
being; but if by the word God is meant all that is, that is to say,
the universe, including every atom and every star, then I am a
believer. I suppose the word that would nearest describe me is
"Pantheist." I cannot believe that a being existed from eternity,
and who finally created this universe after having wasted an eternity
in idleness; but upon this subject I know just as little as anybody
ever did or ever will, and, in my judgment, just as much. My
intellectual horizon is somewhat limited, and, to tell you the
truth, this is the only world that I was ever in. I am what might
be called a representative of a rural district, and, as a matter
of fact, I know very little about the district. I believe it was
Confucius who said: "How should I know anything about another
world when I know so little of this?"

The greatest intellects of the world have endeavored to find words
to express their conception of God, of the first cause, or of the
science of being, but they have never succeeded. I find in the
old Confession of Faith, in the old Catechism, for instance, this
description: That God is a being without body, parts or passions.
I think it would trouble anybody to find a better definition of
nothing. That describes a vacuum, that is to say, that describes
the absence of everything. I find that theology is a subject that
only the most ignorant are certain about, and that the more a man
thinks, the less he knows.

From the Bible God, I do not know that I am going farther and
farther away. I have been about as far as a man could get for many
years. I do not believe in the God of the Old Testament.

Now, as to the next branch of your question, Christianity.

The question arises, What is Christianity? I have no objection to
the morality taught as a part of Christianity, no objection to its
charity, its forgiveness, its kindness; no objection to its hope
for this world and another, not the slightest, but all these things
do not make Christi