Robert Blatchford
1 Published Story
Robert Blatchford's Book and Story
God and My Neighbour
Literature Huxley quotes with satirical gusto Dr. Wace's declaration as to the word "Infidel." Said Dr. Wace: "The word infidel, perhaps, carries an unpleasant significance. Perhaps it is right that it should. It is, and it ought to be, an unpleasant thing for a man to have to say plainly that he does not believe in Jesus Christ."Be it pleasant or unpleasant to be an unbeliever, one thing is quite clear: religious people intend the word Infidel to carry "an unpleasant significance" when they apply to it one. It is in their minds a term of reproach. Because they think it is wicked to deny what they believe.To call a man an Infidel, then, is tacitly to accuse him of a kind of moral turpitude.But a little while ago, to be an Infidel was to be socially taboo. But a little while earlier, to be an Infidel was to be persecuted. But a little earlier still, to be an Infidel was to be an outlaw, subject to the penalty of death.Now, it is evident that to visit the penalty of social ostracism or public contumely upon all who reject the popular religion is to erect an arbitrary barrier against intellectual and spiritual advance, and to put a protective tariff upon orthodoxy to the disadvantage of science and free thought.The root of the idea that it is wicked to reject the popular religion—a wickedness of which Christ and Socrates and Buddha are all represented to have been guilty—thrives in the belief that the Scriptures are the actual words of God, and that to deny the truth of the Scriptures is to deny and to affront God.But the difficulty of the unbeliever lies in the fact that he cannot believe the Scriptures to be the actual words of God.The Infidel, therefore, is not denying God's words, nor disobeying God's commands: he is denying the words and disobeying the commands of men.No man who knew that there was a good and wise God would be so foolish as to deny that God. No man would reject the words of God if he knew that God spoke those words.But the doctrine of the divine origin of the Scriptures rests upon the authority of the Church; and the difference between the Infidel and the Christian is that the Infidel rejects and the Christian accepts the authority of the Church.Belief and unbelief are not matters of moral excellence or depravity: they are questions of evidence.The Christian believes the Scriptures because they are the words of God. But he believes they are the words of God because some other man has told him so.Let him probe the matter to the bottom, and he will inevitably find that his authority is human, and not, as he supposes, divine. You might like
The Blood Ship
Norman Springer It was the writing guy who drew this story out of Captain Shreve. He talked so much I think the Old Man spun the yarn just to shut him up. He had talked ever since his arrival on board, early that morning, with a letter from the owners' agent, and the announcement he intended making the voyage with us. He had weak lungs, he said, and was in search of mild, tropical breezes. Also, he was seeking local color, and whatever information he could pick up about "King" Waldon.He had heard of the death of "King" Waldon, down in Samoa—Waldon, the trader, of the vanishing race of island adventurers—and he expected to travel about the south seas investigating the "king's" past, so he could write a book about the old viking. He had heard that Captain Shreve had known Waldon. Hence, he was honoring a cargo carrier with his presence instead of taking his ease upon a mail-boat.Captain Shreve must tell him all he knew about the "king." He was intensely interested in the subject. Splendid material, you know. That romantic legend of Waldon's arrival in the islands—too good to be true, and certainly too good not to put into a book. Was Captain Shreve familiar with the tale? How this fellow, Waldon, sailed into a Samoan harbor in an open boat, his only companion his beautiful young wife? Imagine—this man and woman coming from nowhere, sailing in from the open sea in a small boat, never telling whence they came!He said this was the stuff to go into his book. Romance, mystery! It was quite as important as the later and better known incidents in the "king's" life. That was why Captain Shreve must tell him all he knew about the fellow. If he could only get at the beginning of the "king's" career in the islands. Where did the fellow come from? Why should a man bring his bride into an uncivilized and lawless section of the world, and settle down for life? There must be a story in that. Ah, yes, and he was the man who could properly do it. The Talisman
Walter Scott "The Talisman" is a novel by Sir Walter Scott. It was published in 1825 as the second of his "Tales of the Crusaders", the first being "The Betrothed". "The Talisman" takes place at the end of the Third Crusade, mostly in the camp of the Crusaders in Palestine. Scheming and partisan politics, as well as the illness of King Richard the Lionheart, are placing the Crusade in danger. The main characters are the Scottish knight Kenneth, who is a fictional character version of David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon, who did in fact return from the third Crusade in 1190, Richard the Lionheart, Saladin, and Edith 
/0/1986/coverorgin.jpg?v=84a939b73cceb4f3d5eaa036def11317&imageMogr2/format/webp)
0
TOP UP
Reading History
Sign out
Get the APP
/0/4542/coverorgin.jpg?v=554e5338ac576137d4bd98e8e9db0465&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/1622/coverorgin.jpg?v=01af35e133aaaed31020679fee8693c5&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/8111/coverorgin.jpg?v=50b56549496054c2512611034317bafa&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/14600/coverorgin.jpg?v=8032100c7fc0ba236fcb0678591240ea&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/5191/coverorgin.jpg?v=5cc1782c7b6203dfdd7af1d423fb5d15&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/11680/coverorgin.jpg?v=ed9456515f545ce3e7d2e9961ce9289f&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/2271/coverorgin.jpg?v=d8e8b0407fe933a2f9bd5424a8f6eaf5&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/15249/coverorgin.jpg?v=be5e4b9defdee37e44ce18718087f359&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/2920/coverorgin.jpg?v=d6b094a54d1687720c44af53ad4924d6&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/15898/coverorgin.jpg?v=296408a996d2d1ba81ec2fa9dbe91414&imageMogr2/format/webp)