preached. I gave free utterance to what I believed, and
while doing so, came to believe still more, and to believe with fuller
assurance. I used no violence with myself, except my lower self. I went
no further in my preaching than I had gone in my belief, and I accepted
no doctrines or theories which did not present themselves to my soul as
true and right. But I came at length to see, not the perfection and
divinity of any particular system of theology, but the perfection and
divinity of Christianity, and the substantial perfection and divinity of
the Sacred Scriptures.

13. I examined the popular objections to Christianity and the Bible.
Some were exceedingly childish; some seemed wicked; some, it was plain,
originated in ignorance; some in error. Paine, Owen, Parker, and certain
students of nature, came to erroneous conclusions with regard to Christ
and the Bible, because they tried them by false standards. Jesus said
nothing on the value of representative and democratic forms of
government, so Paine considered Him ignorant of the conditions of human
happiness. It was Paine however that was ignorant, not Jesus. Jesus was
so wise, that Paine was not able to appreciate His views or do Him
justice. Owen believed that man was the creature of circumstances; that
his character was formed for him, not by him, and that he was not
responsible therefore for his actions. Christ taught a contrary
doctrine. Owen therefore considered Christ to be in error: but the error
was in himself. Parker did not believe in the possibility of miracles:
but the Bible contained accounts of miracles. The Bible therefore must
be pronounced, to a great extent, fabulous. But miracles _are_ possible;
miracles are actual, palpable realities, and Parker's objection falls to
the ground. Many smatterers in science object to the credibility of the
gospel history on the same ground, and are answered in the same way.

Some objections to the Bible and Christianity originate in
misinterpretations of portions of the Bible. The Scriptures are made
answerable for foolish doctrines which they do not teach. Some
objections seem based on a wilful misconstruction of passages of
Scripture. Many objections owe their force to wrong theories of Divine
inspiration, and to erroneous notions with regard to the design of the
Sacred Scriptures put forth by certain divines. These are obviated by
the rejection of those unwarrantable theories and erroneous ideas, and
the accep