lties if accepted literally. For not only was Jesus in
error when he insisted that salvation depended upon belief, he was also
reconciled to eternal suffering for unbelievers. Note some of his
expressions:

"If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins."[23] "Depart
from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and
his angels ... And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but
the righteous into life eternal."[24]

"Whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never
forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation."[25]

"Except ye repent ye shall perish."[26]

"If thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter
into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire
that never shall be quenched."[27]

"How can ye escape the damnation of hell?"[28]

"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth
not shall be damned."[29]

It is evident from these quotations that Jesus not only preached belief
in his divinity as essential to salvation, but endeavored to terrify
people into belief by threats of eternal torment. Jesus was responsible
for the theological conception of a fiery hell. If he was mistaken, if
there never was a place of torment for the wicked after death, is it not
an act of constructive criticism to expose the person most responsible
for the false doctrine that has caused so much fear and mental
suffering? Must we not deplore this mistake of Jesus and recast our
entire opinion of him as a religious teacher?

Are we not justified in stating positively that Jesus made a mistake
when he taught a physical hell and condemned people to spend eternity in
torment for the doubtful sin of disbelief?

_The Atonement_

The doctrine of the Atonement was taught by Jesus. "For this is my blood
of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of
sins."[30]

Whether this sacrifice of the innocent Jesus to save sinful man was
ordered by God or was voluntary on the part of Jesus, it represents a
theory of reprieve from punishment long since abandoned as unethical. If
sin must be punished, there is no justice in relieving the sinner and
placing the burden upon the righteous.

Moreover, the Atonement appears to have been ineffective, for in spite
of the sacrifice that Jesus made, few were to be saved under his scheme
of salvation. "Many are called but few are chosen."[31] "Strait is the
gate,