[The following is selected from “Nelson’s Cause and Cure of Infidelity,” a valuable book which all should read, especially the youth and those inclined to unbelief. Doubt oftener comes from the lack of a knowledge of what the Bible contains, and irreverent associations, than from intellectual reasoning.] If men would put forth one-half of the vigorous research after Bible knowledge which they expend after skill in gainful pursuits, they would not be ignorant; yet their ignorance is their excuse for not being able to judge concerning revelation. If we were to receive a kind letter from some powerful earthly monarch, some noted king, making us very rich offers, and proposing to us honor and wealth, telling the terms over and over, that we might not mistake, it would be expected of us that we should inform ourselves perfectly as to who brought it, its contents, its authenticity, etc. If we were to have it a full year, and never read it at all, it would be deemed strange indeed. Most unbelievers do not know one-fortieth part of the great King’s letter, of the evidence of its genuineness, of its beauties, its grandeur, its proposals, promises or threatenings; while one-half of the time they waste in wickedness, or at least in nonsense and frivolity, would be enough to furnish them with that knowledge, the want of which aids in their ruin. The decisive characteristics and distinguishing marks between the true and false religions in the world are more numerous and more notorious than are the marks between counterfeit coin and pure gold or silver; yet men become judges in the last case, and remain uninformed in the other. If a young man were to hold up an article formed of brass, but made to resemble gold, and were to exclaim, “I can see but little difference between this and gold; I do not know that there is any; this seems as bright and as smooth and as beautiful as any that I have seen,” his friends would tell him that there was a difference between brass and pure gold—that it was to be distinguished by the sight, and by the ring, and by trial or chemical tests. They would tell him that unless he would inform himself in this matter he must suffer, but that by noting two or three signs scrupulously he might decide without danger. A system of truth sent from Heaven always forbids what man is much inclined to love; forbids sensual indulgence, fraud, wickedness, injustice, impurity, revenge, hatred, feasting, revelry, and all that man by nature is prone to reach after. The Koran allows of many wives, of revenge, and unending or exterminating war. The pagan creeds enjoin or permit gluttony, intoxication, and sensuality of every kind to any possible extent. God’s revelation orders the doing of that which men do not love. A wicked man would rather go through days of painful toil than to hold prayer in his own house, or to spend an hour in heart devotion. This requires a change of soul, and promises a paradise of holiness. The false volumes claiming to be from Heaven ask no regeneration or holiness of heart, and promise a futurity of carnal indulgence and satiated appetites. A true prophet is not applauded by the majority of the wicked or by the mass of the depraved. He is generally disliked by those farthest from God, and spoken evil of by those who sink deepest in sin. He is often not only reviled, but put to death, if the laws permit; but the false prophet is neither stoned nor sawn asunder. He is often extolled greatly by the most dissolute, and is at least tolerated or praised to some extent by the leaders in depravity or the officers of sin. In detecting false gold or in marking pure, the chemical test deceives no one. The trial of the pure religion never fails those who test it by actual experiment. No other evidence is wanting; but it is hard to prevail on those who hate it to make this trial—to obey its precepts.