A Legacy to the Friends of Free Discussion

For he said to Peter, "Whom do the people say that I, the son of man, am-?" Peter answered him, that different opinions were abroad concerning him. Some said one thing, and some another; but the gener

sus then grants him superhuman power. To Peter, he says-"Upon this rock will I build my church. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall b

ed them, and, behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." Now, if there were such a demonstration as this, (and many such proofs Peter had been favored with,) how is it possible for us to account for Peter's denying that he even knew

them. Until this was settled, nothing which Jesus said or taught would be of any avail, because, unless this point was established, none would admit his authority to enforce any thing that appeared in opposition to Jewish theology, or to the ceremonies of the laws of Moses, the observance of which, the Jews could not be prevailed upon to neglect; for it clearly appears that the Jewish priests and rulers never showed any disposition to resist, or in any way to treat w

t and most important of all inquiries would be, who are you, and by whom are you sent? for, until these inquiries were 'finally settled, his sayings could not have their full effect; since, as it has before been remarked, the moral state of the Jews was not the point at issue, until his mission was made known, an

orrectly of those signs and wonders which Jesus produced as proofs of his divine authority. The learned priests and scribes were the proper persons to have resorted to, as being alone competent to examine and explain all those predictions which related to Christ's coming, as foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament. What would be thought of a Minister Extraordinary, who, being sent from Washington to London on business of the first importance, should he, instead of repairing to London, make known his mission, by hints and indirect sayings, to some untaught fishermen, and, at the same time, abuse, and also make use of the m

urse to the offering of sacrifice according to the Mosaic law. Sometimes, he speaks of being not only "Lord of all," but that they would "see him coming down in the clouds, in power and glory, to judge both quick and dead"; and then, again, speaking of his poverty, as "not having where to lay his head." His living a life of wandering and mendicity, at times making a great excitement in one place, and suddenly departing to another,-these strange movements (admitting they occurred) entirely took off the attention of the heads of the Jewish people, and caused him to be considered as any thing but the promised restorer of Israel. In addition to his unsettled state, his repeated attacks on the rulers, holding them up to the scorn and contempt of the people, had generated such feelings in the minds of the priests and scribes, that they considered him as a pretender to the Messiahship. Besides the hostility he showed to rich men, in speaking of the almost impossibility of their entering that kingdom which was included in all his teachings, namely, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand," when a rich man asked him "what he was to do to inherit eternal life?" the answer

tedly good, and calculated to make those happy who reduced them to practice, still others there were, which, if practised, would create disorder--such as that which repudiates the taking any thought for the morrow. There is a vast difference in taking prudential thought for the morrow, and always looking at the gloomy side of what may possibly happen. Jesus makes no distinction; but in his explanation he leaves the subject more obscure than if he had not left any comment at all. Jesus says, "Consider the lilies of the field; they toil not, neither do they spin, yet Solo

unless they lived the lives of mendicants, or, to speak more plainly, by what they could pick up, which is implied in the saying of Christ: "for," says he, "foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has not where to la

ing moral; and without it, society would be entirely broken up. But to persons living a wandering life, and not knowing from one day to another how they should fare; and rising in the morning ignorant how it might turn out as to where they could lie down at night-to such, the sayings of Jesus would better apply. But to those who were settled and had fixed homes, the

such person as Jesus existed, who said and did those things ascribed to him; for it is utterly impossible by his history, admitting it to be correct, to gather, from the evangelists' account of it, for what he came, and also what end was answered to the

icting accounts of what he taught, it still remains unsettled whether Christ is part God and part man, or whether he had a natural father, and is to be considered as nothing but a man, but of superior holiness of life. It is not settled whether Christ died for all, or only a part of the human race. Again

but the extension of Infidel Principles can secure the human race against a recurrence of those dreadful scenes, which, for ages, converted this otherwise happy world into a slaughter house of human victims. To my brother Infidels, then, I say, "Ye are the salt of the earth." If you cease from your noble exertions, the human race may again exhibit one mass of theological putrefaction. If Infinite wisdom and power had ever undertaken to give a revelation to man, we should

expedient to offer a reward to some one to point him out to the officers appointed to arrest him. Judas Iscariot was the man who seemed willing as well as competent, to conduct this ungrateful business. Jesus had often said that one of his apostles would betray him. There is something very strange in the saying of Jesus, that he had chosen twelve apostles and one would betray him. If Jesu

of the important object of his coming; for if he came into the world to die for the sins of mankind, Judas then was of vast importance in bringing about that which was before ordained by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. But if he (Jesus) did not intend to suffer death, then, and only then, had he cause to complain of Judas as a traitor. Jesus, in speaking of Judas, says, "it had been good for that man if he had never been born:" but i