"Ingersoll. A Biographical Appreciation."
By Editor
By Herman E. Kittredge, The Dresden Publishing Co., New York. The book shows Mr. Kittredge to be a worshipful admirer of Colonel Ingersoll. His "Appreciation" amounts practically to an apotheosis. Infidelity or skepticism is made to be the halo of Ingersoll's genius. Ingersoll's powerful invective, as with all the other great doubters, has been hurled at what they know about Christianity. Personally, they do not know the real Christ of the Bible, and hence what they dwell upon is the misrepresentations of Christ that may be found among any sect of believers that has ever arisen. Ingersoll was brilliant and witty, and hence could hold up to public ridicule in a very "taking" and entertaining way such unscriptural doctrines as the eternal, burning hell that so many Christian sects have insisted on trailing along with them—a doctrine that was never taught in the Bible, that was never successfully used for anything except to aid mercenary priests and "divines" in binding chains of superstition about their people in such a way that they would implicitly obey them instead of the Lord of glory. Mr. Kittredge makes a strong point in his book of the help he thinks Mr. Ingersoll was able to give to those who were in distress and even despair because of their belief in eternal torment in the fires of hell. But long years before Mr. Ingersoll was even heard of, individuals in many churches and at least one whole religious denomination, that has succeeded in pushing its work into every corner of the world, were teaching that the Bible gave no authority for the doctrine of an eternal, burning hell. This denomination has preached this all through the land, and has circulated multiplied millions of pages of literature bearing upon the subject. The devil that Mr. Ingersoll has so sarcastically denounced as a fiction, made a great master-stroke when he got the world to think it had to adopt and follow certain styles. Our clothing, our houses, and our eating and our thinking must be according to the prevailing style. And so most of the churches have adopted a style, and have tried to make this pass for the real Christianity of the Bible, which is the Christianity of the Christ of God. Ingersoll's mistake, like the mistakes of many another man, both in and out of the professed church of Christ, was in taking for granted that what passes as men's opinions of Christianity is the real article itself. Humanity at its best is loaded with mistakes, limitations, and inconsistencies; and any human interpretation of Christ and of His Word will have more or less of the imperfect in it. But Christ as He is revealed in His own Word and works is always perfect, and to that great fountain we may come and constantly drink with ever-increasing satisfaction. Mr. Ingersoll thought he studied the Bible until he was able to point out what he considered its inconsistencies. But he always studied it with the prevailing "styles" of Christianity in mind; therefore he never saw the beauty of that wonderful divine Life that is revealed in that divine Word. He never enjoyed the delights of tasting the real experiences of resting on the solid promises of God's Word. Mr. Kittredge makes a good showing, in his book, of the meteoric journey of Mr. Ingersoll through this life. It is evident, as you scan his book, that he mistook the "great agnostic," as he continually and affectionately calls him, for a genuine star. But he brings us to the end of his life's journey only to tell us that he still had no real hope of a life beyond, and like all other meteors his light turned into the darkness of a hopeless night. Such a book may amuse and even entertain some people; but how awful it is to try to get people to lead a life that is absolutely walled in by birth and death, with never a shadow of definite knowledge concerning the great eternity that spreads without a horizon on either side! How awful it is to try to shut men away from the salvation of Jesus of Nazareth! How awful it is to try to shut men away from the mine of promises in God's Word, which alone can bring comfort and contentment into the heart! And how it passes description to think of turning the minds of men away from the great and clear prophecies of the Bible, which throw a blaze of glorious light into the future! If one is seeking for a guide that will charm him with the idea of spending his life in doubt, so that he may end the journey unsatisfied and in darkness, this book will doubtless meet the desire; it can never feed the soul. "A Text-Book of True Temperance." Edited and Compiled by M. Monahan, New York, United States Brewers' Association.
This book represents the strong and vigorous efforts put forth by the men who have a business to sustain, and who would rather see hearts broken, homes ruined, and hopes blasted, by training boys for the gutter, than have their business interfered with. The book is filled with absurd statements in regard to the "food value" of beer and the like, but it is utterly silent in regard to the lives that have been ruined by drink. It tells nothing of the crimes committed by men under the influence of liquor, the women beaten by drunken husbands. It gives never a picture of the besotted father dozing beside his beer pot in the grog-shop while his pale and ragged children in the fireless hovel are shivering with cold and crying for bread. It is perfectly apparent that the only object of the book is to build up and strengthen a business, regardless of the continual price that has to be paid in human life and human wo. The book is a fosterer of intemperance.