Annie Besant
The Christian Creed; or, What it is Blasphemy to Deny
It is blasphemy to deny that in a vessel 300 cubits long, 50 cubits broad, and 30 cubits high, divided into three floors, with only one window in it, 1 cubit square, for purposes of light and ventilation, and this window kept shut till nearly the end of the time (compare Gen. viii., 6), eight persons with pairs or sevens "of every living thing of all flesh," lived for one year and seventeen days. It is blasphemy to deny that into this floating Black Hole went "of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort" (Gen. vi., 19), and although only two of every sort went in, yet of some sorts "sevens" went in, "the male and his female" (Gen. vii., 2), so that two and fourteen signify the same number when the multiplication table is of faith. What the number of this numerous live cargo of fowls, of cattle, and of every creeping thing (Gen. vi., 20) must have been, may be faintly imagined by the fact that there are known 6,200 species of the "fowls of the air" alone. As the fowls were to be taken "by sevens," there must have been an aviary in the ark containing 86,800 birds, and some of these, such as the eagles, the ostriches, and the condors would require considerable room. Of Mammalia some 1,600 species are known, and elephants, hippopotami, rhinoceroses, buffaloes, giraffes-to take but a few instances-are fairly large, and one might imagine-were it not blasphemy to think so- that lions, tigers, pumas, leopards, wolves, etc., would not only be difficult to manage among the sevens of sheep, goats, and oxen, but would also suffer from the want of exercise necessitated by their caged condition. As the ark must have been packed quite closely in every division, from floor to ceiling, it is difficult to understand how the creatures survived their voyage, while it is blasphemy to deny that every one of them in due time "went forth out of the ark" (Gen. viii., 19).
In addition to all the living creatures, Noah took with him into the ark "of all food that is eaten" (Gen. vi., 21). As there could be no room for Noah and his family to walk about distributing the food (and it would have been scarcely safe to have left it to natural selection), we must suppose that layers of animals and layers of food were packed alternately all through, and even this arrangement must have given rise to some awkward complications if, in order to save space, a pair of caterpillars were dropped in among the cabbages packed round the noses of a pair of guinea-pigs. One might almost imagine that the going forth from the ark must have been a lively ante-type of the general resurrection of the dead.
But yet again, in my efforts to realise this beautiful and divinely inspired history, I am almost afraid that I am being beguiled into blasphemy. "Lord, I (do not) believe. Help thou mine unbelief."
It is blasphemy to deny that 4,232 years ago a universal flood took place, covering "all the high hills that were under the whole heaven" (Gen. vii., 19); the manner in which this was done is partly explained by Peter, who tells us that at that time the earth was "standing out of the water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished" (2 Pet. iii., 5, 6). This world-half in, half out of the water-is not any world known to history nor to science; there is not a shadow of proof of its existence, except that of divine authority; such a world has nothing in common with our own globe, a planet circling round the sun; the solar system, as we know it, would have been disorganised by the sudden increase in mass of one of its members; our globe has most certainly not been "overflowed with water" daring the last 5,000 years, for the cones built up of scoria from Mount Etna have been undisturbed for at least 12,000 years. If you believe the testimony of these hills, you must believe that divine authority has blundered over the deluge; but then, if you think this you will be damned, and if you say it Justice North will send you to pick oakum.
It is of divine authority that the ark came to land upon the mountains of Ararat (Gen. viii., 4) after its long and stormy voyage. The humming-birds, the tropical butterflies, the monkeys and the animals of the equatorial zone must have found it rather chilly during their seven-months' stay in the region of perpetual snow, especially as there can have been no facilities for hot-water pipes in the ark. All the living things, tropical or polar, must have also suffered much from the difficulty of breathing on that exalted spot, as the waters went down and the higher atmosphere regained its normal rarity. But what are little difficulties of this sort to the true believer, especially when into the scale of belief are thrown the smile of god and the approval of Mr. Justice North?
It is of divine authority that Noah sent out of the ark a dove, which returned to him finding "no rest for the sole of her foot," "for the waters were on the face of the whole earth" (Gen. viii., 9); yet seven days later the same dove returned from a second excursion with "an olive leaf pluckt off," "in her mouth" (v., 11). It is, therefore, blasphemy to deny that an olive tree stood firm beneath the crushing weight of the tons of water which covered every high hill, and was so little injured by its submersion of eleven months that it promptly budded out as the water left uncovered its topmost boughs.
It is of divine authority that "every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth after their kinds, went forth out of the ark" (Gen. viii., 19), and that Noah, lest his god should not have had his appetite for slaughter satiated by the putrifying masses of the drowned dead, scattered over the face of the whole earth, took "of every clean beast and of every clean fowl" (v. 20), and offered up his puny sacrifice by fire from the few living things left from the huge sacrifice by water. It is blasphemy to deny that as the fumes of the roasting animals went up "the Lord smelled a sweet savor" (v. 21), and gratefully declared: "neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done" (v. 21). So that god appears to have made man, then to have repented that he made him, then to have destroyed him, and then to have been half sorry once more, declaring that he would not do it again. And this is the god in "whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James i., 17). It certainly required a revelation to tell us so.
It is of divine authority that the "fear" and "dread" of man is on every "beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea" (Gen. ix., 2). This fear is not very evident in the tiger as he tears a man in pieces, in the vulture who picks out the eyes of the dying traveller, in the shark who snaps in twain the swimming sailor; yet it is consoling to know that they are all trembling with dread of their prey as they swallow the toothsome morsel. The "covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh" (Gen. ix., 15) is rather funny; if it were not blasphemy to deny it I should scarcely have conceived of god entering into a covenant with, say, a black-beetle. The covenant is not of much use to individuals apparently, though entered into with "every" one of them, for though god promises that he will not again drown them all en masse, he gives no pledge as to drowning in detail, and this is quite as unpleasant to the victims.
It is blasphemy to deny that 4,130 years ago "the whole earth was of one language and of one speech" (Gen. xi., 1), and the whole science of philology is therefore a delusion and a snare. As "they" – the whole earth-"journeyed from the east," they "found a plain," and made up their minds to build "a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven" (verses 2 and 4). It is blasphemy to deny that god-who at that time appears to have known little about the laws of gravitation or the difficulty of breathing, say, five miles up-thought they might succeed, and, being omnipresent, he changed his place, and "came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men builded." In order to prevent the appearance of the top of the tower in heaven-heaven being above the firmament, the firmament having the stars set in it, and the nearest fixed star being 5,480,490,000,000 miles away, so that if they had directed their tower towards this star, and had built at the rate of ten miles a day, it would have taken them more than 1,501,504,109 years to reach heaven, that is, they would have had to build for 1,501,599,979 years onwards from the present time-god being afraid that they would storm his realm, took the trouble to confound their language, so that they might not understand each other's speech. When we read of the Titans trying to storm heaven, we know that the story is a myth; but the same fable is "Bible truth" in Genesis, and it is blasphemy to deny it, foolish as it is.
It is blasphemy to deny that when Terah was 70 years of age he begat Abram (Gen. xi., 26), and that he died when he was 205 years of age (verse 32); it is blasphemy to deny that Abram was 75 years old when he departed out of Haran and went into Canaan (Gen. xii., 4, 5); it is blasphemy to deny that Abram stayed in Haran until after his father's death (Acts vii., 4); that is, it is blasphemy to deny that the 135 years of Terah's life are of exactly the same length as the 75 years of Abram's life. Anyone who believes not that 135=75 will be damned. Moral, parents should not allow their children to learn arithmetic, for by so doing they imperil their immortal souls, and risk their committal to gaol by the tender mercies of Mr. Justice North.
Sarai, about whose age there is some doubt, in consequence of the great length of her husband's years, was a very fair woman; reckoning by Terah's age, she must have been at this time at least 160 years old (supposing that she married at 15), but she seems to have been only 90 years of age at least 25 years later (Gen. xvii., 17). However, whether she was a fair woman of 160 summers, or a gay young thing of only 65, she proved to be indeed a treasure to her husband. For it is of divine authority that faithful Abraham pretended that his wife was only his sister, and allowed King Pharaoh to take her and to pay him for her "sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she-asses, and camels" (Gen. xii., 16); it is blasphemy to deny that god plagued poor innocent "Pharaoh and his house with great plagues" because they were deceived by his friend's shameless venality and lying, and that when Pharaoh discovered the fraud, Abram took himself off with his wife and all he had gained by her sale, being, as the sacred narrative naively remarks, "very rich" (Gen. xiii., 2) after this transaction.
It is blasphemy to deny that "he [god] is faithful that promised" (Heb. x., 23); it is also blasphemy to deny that he [god] broke his promises. For he promised Abram, over and over again, that he would give to him as well as to his seed the land of Canaan (Gen. xiii., 15; xv., 7, 8; xvii., 8, etc.); yet we find that Abram was obliged to buy a sepulchre for his wife's corpse, and never inherited the land at all. Even as far as his seed was concerned, god broke the "everlasting covenant" (Gen. xvii., 9) he made, to give to "thee and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, even the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession" (Gen. v., 8), for the Jews only possessed part of this land for a short time, instead of for ever, and as defined by god, "this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates" (Gen. xv., 18), they never had it at all. It is comforting to notice that this promise-breaking god is the same who in the person of his son declared: "he that believeth not shall be damned for as he did not keep his word in the one case perhaps he will not do so in the other.
One day, as Abram was returning from the slaughter of some of his enemies, a certain Melchizedek, named with charming appropriateness King of Peace (Heb. vii., 2), went out to meet him, and blessed him. Nothing is said in Genesis to make us regard Melchizedek as the extraordinary being that he really was; for it is blasphemy to say that Melchizedek was ever born, that he had any ancestors, that he ever died (Heb. vii., 3); like Topsy, "'spects he growed"; where he is now nobody knows; he would be a most useful "Christian antiquity," but he is not producible. On the world's stage he made but this one appearance, "positively for the first and last time." Melchizedek is a type of Jesus Christ. Jesus was born; Melchizedek was not. Jesus had a mother; Melchizedek had none. Jesus had his descent from David; Melchizedek was without descent. Jesus died; Melchizedek had no end of life. The correspondence between them is really striking. The only similarity is that they were both without any acknowledged father, and this peculiarity they share with many pagan heroes and with some less important folk.
It is blasphemy to deny that Abram, the "friend of God," took to himself his wife's maid, Hagar, and that when this poor slave was about to bear him a child he chivalrously handed her over to her jealous mistress, Sarai, saying: "Behold, thy maid is in her hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee" (Gen xvi., 6). An ordinary man, under such circumstances, would have had some tender, pitiful feeling towards the mother of his unborn child; but Abram was a saint of God, and was above all weak sentiment of that kind, so he stood quietly by while Sarai ill-treated the woman who had lain in his arms, and let her flee away into the wilderness unhelped and unpitied. God's angel drove poor Hagar back to her bondage, and after her return her son was born. At this time Abram was 86 years of age; fourteen years later Sarah had a son, Isaac, and some time after she insisted on turning out poor Ishmael, with his mother, Hagar. A sweet, womanly creature was Sarah. Abraham made no objection, but "rose up early in the morning" to send off his first-born son and his mother, and was generous enough to take "bread and a bottle of water," and to make this splendid present to Hagar "putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away." "The child" was now about fifteen years of age, and would have been a little heavy for poor Hagar to carry if he had been an ordinary well-grown boy; he was, however, curiously small for his age, for we learn that when "the water was spent in the bottle" "she cast the child under one of the shrubs" (Gen. xxi., 15). It is blasphemy to deny that Hagar carried this big baby, and threw him about like a toy.
It is blasphemy to deny that "the Lord" appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre, and that he, with two others, eat dressed calf, butter and milk (Gen. xviii., 1-8). It is blasphemy to say that god has parts (Art. I.), but it is difficult to understand how he eat without teeth, and swallowed without a throat; besides, what became of the eaten meat if there was no stomach to receive it? Truly, the gate is narrow which leadeth unto life, and narrow must be the brains that go in there through.
It is blasphemy to deny that god, who knows everything, did not know what was going on in Sodom and Gomorrah.
He said: "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know" (Gen. xviii., 20, 21). Much faith is necessary to believe that god knew and that he did not know all at once, but "he that believeth not shall be damned."
It is blasphemy to deny that the same god who did not punish Lot and his daughters for incest, punished Lot's poor wife because she committed the terrible crime of looking back towards her burning home. She was turned into a "pillar of salt" (Gen. xix., 26), and Jesus bids us remember her (Luke xvii, 32), but does not say why we should do so. If god had forgotten her and had turned the two daughters into salt, the family history would have been less scandalous than it is.
It is blasphemy to deny that god "rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven" (Gen. xix., 24). Heaven must be a pleasant place if it contains stores of brimstone and fire which can be rained down in this fashion. Action of this kind is supposed to be wicked when done by man, but a divine O'Donovan Rossa is apparently held up for our admiration. I have sometimes wondered whether this brimstone may not possibly have come from the lake of brimstone and fire connected with the bottomless pit (Rev. xx., 10); if so, it is very probable that as the earth turned round and Sodom and Gomorrah came opposite the bottomless pit, so that it was above those "towns," god lifted the lid and let out some of the contents. This view should commend itself to the religious, as it cannot be pleasant for them to look forward to spending eternity in the close neighborhood of a celestial manufactory of dynamite.
It is blasphemy to deny that "just Lot" (2 Pet. ii., 7) offered his two virgin daughters to satiate the lust of the crowd surrounding his house: "let me, I pray you," said this good father, "bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes." This generous offer, which would be vile in any one but a saint, throws much light on his later relations with these young women. The frightful crime related in Gen. xix., 30-36, seems to have been much approved of by god; for we learn in Deut. ii., 9 and 19, that the Moabites and Ammonites were not to be molested, for their lands were given "unto the children of Lot for a possession," and the reference Bible refers us back on this to the beautiful story in Genesis. Little English girls are given this story to read, and it would be blasphemous to teach them that Lot and his daughters were criminals of the filthiest type. The holy book of god says that Lot was a "just" man, and there is not a word of disapproval of his vice. If it were not that all good little girls must read the Bible, it would be far better that they should not know that such crimes are committed at all. Children's thoughts should never be turned towards sexual matters in any fashion, and they do not so turn of themselves, and it would be one of the worst mischiefs done by the Bible-if it were not the book of god-that it destroys this natural healthy indifference in children's minds. It is not wonderful that such frightful tales of family immorality are but too often told at the assizes, or that poor ignorant people, believing with blind faith in the Bible, repeat the crime of Lot and his daughters, and are startled when our human laws punish peremptorily the crime which in the Bible is blessed of god.
It is blasphemy to deny that god plagued the innocent household of Abimelech, the king of Gerar, because Abimelech had been deceived by the lie of Abraham, god's friend. From the story as related in Genesis xx. we learn that Abimelech took Sarah-then over ninety years of age- believing her to be Abraham's sister; next, that finding out the trick played on him, he gave her back to her base husband, rebuking him in "that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin next, that Sarah was Abraham's half-sister, although she was also his wife, and that such marriage unions between children of the same father by different mothers are pleasing to god; next, that Abraham accepted "sheep and oxen and men-servants and women-servants" from Abimelech with his restored wife, as well as "a thousand pieces of silver," ironically bestowed on him as her "brother;" and, finally, we learn that it is blasphemy to deny that just the same sequence of events happened twice over to Abraham, and also happened to Isaac his son (Gen. xx vi., 7-11), who inherited the family untruthfulness and the family cowardice with the family property.
