Chapter 8 notes
Isaiah760172 mentions Jeremiah62941 only in the last chapter of Chronicles Ezekiel5957 no mention of Daniel60719 no mention of Hosea78597 no mention of Joel800212 no mention of Amos789199 no mention Theobadiah 789199 did not mention Jonah 862274 did not mention, see note ①Micah 750162 did not mention Nahum 713125 did not mention Habakkuk 62038 did not mention Zephaniah 63042 did not mention Haggaizachariah Malachi in the year This last list is not very honorable to the biblical historians, or to the biblical prophets; I leave it to the priests and commentators, who are learned in little To resolve the liturgical issue between the two, and give reasons why Kings and Chronicles
The author of the book treats these prophets in this way.I have already treated them as poets in the first part of The Age of Reason, why both authors have given such contemptuous silence to Peter Pinder as any modern historian has.
I have one more comment to make about Chronicles.Afterwards, I will comment on other passages in the Bible.
In my comment on Genesis, I quoted from the thirty-sixth chapter, verse thirty-first, a passage which apparently refers to a time after the kings began to rule over the people of Israel: and I have pointed out that, This verse is identical verbatim to the forty-third verse of Chapter 1 of Chronicles, but Chronicles is in line with history, while Genesis is not. This verse and most of the thirty-sixth chapter of Genesis are taken from Chronicles. Genesis, though listed first in the Bible, is said to be the work of Moses, but was written by an unknown individual after the writing of Chronicles: Written at least 860 years after the time of Moses.
The evidence which I proceed to substantiate this is lawful, and there are two stages in it.First, as I have already said, the verse in Genesis references Chronicles in time; It was not written until 860 years after the time of Moses.For proof of this, we need only read the thirteenth verse of the third chapter of Chronicles, where the author writes the genealogy of the sons of David, mentioning Zedekiah; in the time of Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem 588 years before Christ, and therefore more than 860 years after Moses.There are some who superstitiously exaggerate the antiquity of the Holy Scriptures, especially with respect to the books which are claimed to belong to Moses, without investigation and without any basis, except that one credulous man told another; for as far as the historical and chronicle As far as the evidence is concerned, the real first book in the "Bible" is not as ancient as the book of Homer, and there is still a difference of three hundred years, which is about the same age.
I am not now arguing Homer's morality; on the contrary, I think it is a false book of honor, designed to encourage immoral and pernicious notions of honor.As for, though morally generally just, fables are often cruel; and the cruelty of a fable is more injurious to the heart, especially to children, than morally injurious.
Let's not talk about "Kings" and "Chronicles" now, but let's talk about "Ezra" in order.
Among other pieces of evidence, I will mention one piece of evidence that this bible claiming to be the Word of God
In the chaotic situation in arrangement, it is difficult to determine who the author is.We just read the book of Ezra
The first three verses and the last two verses of "Chronicles"; because I don't know what method of division and shifting is used to make the first three verses of "Ezra" the last two verses of "Chronicles", or to make "Chronicles" The last stanza of the book of Ezra becomes the first three verses of Ezra?Either the author does not know his work, or the editor does not know the author.
In the last two verses of Chronicles, verse 22, in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, the LORD stirred up the heart of Cyrus king of Persia in order to fulfill what he had spoken through Jeremiah, and made him issue a decree to the whole nation, saying, In verse 23, Cyrus king of Persia said thus: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a temple in Jerusalem in Judah. His God is with him.
The first verse of the first three chapters of the Book of Ezra, in the first year of Cyrus King of Persia, in order to fulfill the words spoken through the mouth of Jeremiah, the LORD stirred up the heart of Cyrus King of Persia, and made him issue an edict to the whole country, saying, In verse 2, Cyrus king of Persia said thus: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and has charged me to build him a temple in Jerusalem, Judah.
Verse 3, All his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah, and rebuild the LORD, the God of Israel, in Jerusalem. (Only he is God) God be with this man.
The last stanza of Chronicles ends abruptly in a phrase with a word "up" and nowhere is indicated.This sudden interruption, and the occurrence of the same number of verses in different books, show, as I have said, that the Bible was put together in confusion and ignorance, and that the compilers had no basis in compiling it, Nor do we have any basis to believe their compilations.
①①As I read along, I observed several breaks and nonsensical passages in the Bible that I did not expect to be introduced into the Bible
There will be enough influence in the future; for example, in the first verse of the thirteenth chapter of the Book of Samuel, it is said that "Tunara ruled Israel for one year; when he ruled Israel for two years, Tunola selected three thousand people", etc. Wait.The first part of the verse saying that Tunara ruled for a year is meaningless, since this sentence tells us nothing about what Tunra did, nor what happened at the end of that year; Meaningless he says he governed for one year, then in the next phrase he governs for two years; if he has governed for two years, it is impossible not to govern for one year.
Yet another example is found in the fifth chapter of the book of Joshua, where the author tells us the story of an angel (as he is called in the table of contents at the beginning of that chapter) who appeared to Joshua; Suddenly interrupted, without ending.The story is as follows:--See thirteenth verse, of which there is only certainty in the Book of Ezra that it was written at the time when the Jews returned from their Babylonian captivity, about five hundred and thirty before Christ. six years.Ezra (according to the Jewish commentators, he is the same man called Estra in the Epicrita) was one of the returnees, and he may have written the origin of that story. Nehemiah in Slah wrote a book afterward, and he was one of those who came back; he may have written in his own name the causes of the same events. But those accounts have nothing to do with us, or with anyone else, unless it is the same as his own. part of the history of the nation; and in those books there are so many words of God, as there are in the history of France, or, as in Rabin's history of England, that of any other country. The same is true of history.
But even in matters of historical record, these writers have nothing to rely on.In the second chapter of the Book of Ezra, the author tabulates all the tribes and families and the exact number of persons in each household that returned from Babylon to Naruthalom: the main purpose of this register of returnees seems to be write this book; but here is an error which defeats the purpose of this work.
The author begins the list in the following way: Chapter II, verse 3 says, "The sons of Baruch two thousand one hundred and seventy-four." People." In this way, he speaks of all families.In verse 64 he concludes that the congregation numbered forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty.
But if someone is not afraid to take the trouble to add up the number of people, he will find that the total number is only 29 people; so the difference is 12,542 people① (see table on page 446).May I ask, on what matters is the Bible accurate and reliable?
In the same way, Nehemiah made a list of the returning families and the number of people in each family. Like Eras, he began the eighth chapter of the seventh chapter by saying: "The sons of Baruch two thousand three hundred and seven Twelve;" thus counting all the families, his list differs from Ezra's in several respects.In verse sixty-six Nehemiah makes a total, as Ezra once said, "The congregation was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty." Calculated, the total number is only 31, so the error here is 11,271.These authors may have been helpful to the compilers of the Bible, but they were of little use where truth and certainty were required.The next book is Nehemiah.If Lady Esther thought she had dedicated herself to Ahashuru, as his adopted mistress, or as Queen Vansti (she was ridiculed for refusing to come to the drunken king who was in the company of drunks, because the stories say they drank for Le has seven days) rival in love, is an honor, so let Esther and Mordankai take care of that matter, it has nothing to do with us: at least not with me.Beyond that, the story itself appears largely to be false and anonymous.Now I'm going to study the book of Job.
The Book of Job is fundamentally different from the books we have studied so far.Intrigues and "As Joshua approached Jericho, he lifted up his eyes, and behold, a man stood opposite him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked him, Will you help us, or will you help us?" Where are your enemies?” In verse fourteen, “He answered, No, I have come as the Lord of hosts.” Then Joshua bowed his head to the ground, and after worshiping, he said to him, Lord, you What command do you give to your servant?" The Lord of Hosts said to Joshua, Take off your sandals; for the place where you stand is holy ground, and Joshua did so. "What happened then; no more. Because that's the end of the story, and that's the end of the chapter. Either the story was interrupted, or it was told by some Jewish humorist to make fun of Joshua's audacity." Called God's mission; the editors of the Bible, ignorant of the plot of the story, told it as a serious matter. As a story of humor and sarcasm, a matter of the utmost importance, because the story exaggerates An angel was drawn out of the figure, holding a drawn sword, and Joshua bowed his head in worship, (which was contrary to the second commandment); and this most important envoy from heaven, at last Tell Joshua, take your shoes off your feet. Quite possibly tell him to take off your trousers too. Although, it is certain, the Jews did not believe everything their leaders told them, as far as As they tell the story of Moses' ascent with arrogance. "As for this Moses, they say, we don't know what became of him. "Chapter Thirty-Second Section 1. - Author
Killing, etc., is absent in this book; it is an introspection imbued with life-changing thoughts, and alternately being under pressure, or fighting against it.This is a highly influential work somewhere between voluntary submission and involuntary dissatisfaction; it shows that man, as he sometimes is, may exist, but is more submissive.Patience is said to be but a small part of man's character; man's grief, on the contrary, is often violent; yet he strives to remain vigilant; amidst accumulated misery, seems determined to maintain a arduous contentment.
I spoke respectfully of the Book of Job in the first part of The Age of Reason, but did not know at the time what I had learned afterwards; this is, from all the evidence I can gather, that the Book of Job Not part of the Bible.
I have seen two Hebrew expositors of Scripture, Aberthosela and Spinoza, say on this matter; both of them say that the book of Job has no internal evidence that it is The book of a stranger; the genius of the writing and the drama of the work, not of the Hebrews; it was translated into Hebrew from another language, and by a heathen.The name of the person represented by the name of Satan (the first and only mention in the Bible) is inconsistent with any Hebrew thinking; The two meetings, the poem calling them sons of God, and the supposed acquaintance between Satan and God are said to be the same.
Again it can be observed that the book itself shows that it is the work of a mind trained in science.In this respect the Jews are far from being commendable and ignorant.The treatment of the problems of natural philosophy in the book is common and strong, and is of a different type from anything in the books that the Hebrews knew.Astronomical names such as "Stars of the Seven Women", "Three Stars in the Hunter", and "Stars in the Bull Capes" are all Greek, not Hebrew names. None of these names are found in the .If the Jews know something about astronomy, or they have studied it, but they have not translated these names into their own language, they have only been found in poetry.
There is no doubt that the Jews did not translate into Hebrew the literature of non-Jewish peoples, nor did they mix them with their own literature.This is evidenced in the thirty-one chapters of the book.In the first stanza of the book, it says, "King Lemuel's words are the true words his mother taught him".This verse serves as the preface to the whole book. The words in the book are not the proverbs of Solomon, but the proverbs of Lemuel; this Lemuel is not one of the kings of Israel, nor one of the kings of Judah, but the king of other nations One, it turned out, was a non-Jew.Although the Jews adopted his proverbs, they could not say who the author of the Book of Job was and how he acquired it; No other chapter in "is completely incoherent.Judging from the relevant evidence, it was originally a work of non-Jews.
The editors of the Bible and those who determine the time, the chronologists, do not seem to know where to put the Book of Job, and what to do with it; The prayer of Agur, just before that of Lemuel, is the only wise, conceived, and articulated prayer in the Bible; A prayer from a Jew.The name Agur, which is not seen anywhere but here, is introduced with his prayers; the manner and presentation of Lemuel and his prayers in a later chapter The manner used in Agur is the same, and the language is almost the same.In the first verse of chapter thirtieth it says: "The word of Agur the son of Jacqui was the word of truth;" the word of word of truth is used here in the same way as in the next chapter of Lemuel, and has nothing to do with the word of prophecy.Agur's prayer is in the eighth and ninth verses: "Remove far from me falsehood and lies; let me be neither poor nor rich; but give me food suitable to my needs; lest I Be full and deny thee, and say who is the Lord? Lest I should be poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God.” There is nothing characteristic of the Jewish prayer here, for the Jew never prays unless he is in trouble; And Dan never prayed for anything but victory, vengeance, and riches. --author
Mention anything that could be used to determine its place in the Bible.But it does not answer the intention of those who have informed the world of their ignorance, and so places the time at the year before the Gregorian Era.During this time, the Israelites were in Egypt.They have the same authority, but no more authority than I, for saying a thousand years before that period.However, this book is probably older than any other in the Bible; and it is the only book that can be read without outrage and disgust.
We don't know what the ancient Centitier Road (according to such a statement) was like before the Jews, but the habit of the Jews is to slander and insult the character of other nations; They are heathen.But so far as we know to the contrary, they were a just and virtuous people, not as addicted to cruelty and vengeance as the Jews were, but the proclamation of their faith is not familiar to us.It seems to be their custom to personify both virtue and vice in statues and pictures;I now turn to a discussion of the book of Psalms.
Psalms, we don't need to say much.Some of it is moral, others are very vindictive: most of it deals with certain local conditions of the Jewish people at the time of writing, which have nothing to do with us.It would be a mistake or a lie to call them David's Psalms, but they are a collection, like the present collection of poems, which brings together the works of poets of different ages. Psalm 130 could not have been written more than 400 years after the time of David, because it was written to commemorate the event of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, which had not passed through that time, will not appear. "We sat down by the river in Babylon, and wept at the thought of Zion. We hung our harps on the willows there, because our captors there wanted us to sing. Sing us a song of Zion, they said. Go." Just as one says to an American, a Frenchman, or an Englishman, drink us an American song, or a French song, or an English song.The account of the time when the poem was composed is of no use except to point out (as has been mentioned elsewhere) the general deception which has been suffered in the world concerning the authors of the Bible.No attention is paid to time, place, and circumstances, and the names of persons added to several books cannot be written by them any more than a man can walk with others in his own funeral procession.
.The proverbs in this book, like the Psalms, are a kind of collection, collected from authors of other lands than Judea, as I have indicated in my commentary on the Book of Job; besides , some proverbs are said to be Solomon's, but they do not appear before two hundred and fifty years after Solomon's death; ’” There were two hundred and fifty years between the time of Solomon and the time of Hezekiah.When a man is famous, and his fame spreads abroad, he becomes the acknowledged originator of things he never said or did; and this may well have been the case with Solomon.It seems that creating proverbs was popular at the time, just like writing funny books now, and those who have never read funny books are said to be the authors of those books.
The Book of Ecclesiastes, or The Evangelist, is also said to have belonged to Solomon, which is plausible, if not true.This book is written as the solitary memory of a worn out libertine like Solomon.He recalls everything in the past, no longer has any nostalgia, and exclaims: "Everything is empty!" Many metaphors and sentiments are vague and difficult to understand, and they may have been translated; Clear ①.Solomon's character is seen in the translation given to us: he is wise, ostentatious, dissolute, and finally melancholy.He lived a dissolute life, and before he died, weary of the world, ① those who look out of the window will be blackened, a vague metaphor in translation, meaning "blindness". --author
Fifty-eight years old.Seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines are worse than none at all; although it appears to be a high degree of enjoyment, it actually destroys the happiness of love, because it loses the goal of love; separated love is not happiness at all.
Such was the case with Solomon; and if he, in the name of his wisdom, had not foresaw this, he deserved it, and he deserved no mercy, and afterwards he suffered the disgrace.From this point of view, his preaching is unnecessary, since to know the effect it is only necessary to know the cause.Seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines can replace the whole book.Then there is no need to say "all is empty" and mental troubles, because it is impossible to find happiness in the team that robs happiness.
To enjoy happiness in old age, we must get used to enjoying the things that accompany our minds for the rest of our lives.Pleasure-seekers are wretched in old age, and he who works in the tedium of business is no better; and natural philosophy, mathematics, and mechanics are constant sources of quiet pleasures; The study of these things, apart from superstitions and superstitions, is the study of true theology; a study which teaches the knowledge and admiration of the Creator, for the principle of science consists in creation, immutable, and divine origin.
Those who knew Franklin thought that his mind was ever young; his temper always serene; science, never growing gray, was always his lover.He will never be without a partner, because when we don't have a partner, we become a cripple waiting to die in the hospital.
The Songs of Solomon are amorous and rather silly, but the mocked fanatics say they are holy. The editors of the Bible placed these psalms after the book of Ecclesiastes; chronologists place them at 1014 B.C., according to the same chronology, when Solomon was nineteen years old, and it was then that he established the , Concubine's harem. The Bible-compilers and chronologists should have handled this better, or left out the time, or chosen a time less contradicting the so-called divinity of those poems; for Solomon was at that time with a thousand temptresses Honeymoon.
They should also realize that, if he did write Ecclesiastes, he wrote them well after these poems, and that in Ecclesiastes he cries out that all is empty and the spirit is troubled; Poetry is included in that description.This is quite probable, for he said, or someone else said for him (see Ecclesiastes 2:8), "Again I was given singing men and women (probably those songs) and instruments of all kinds ;” and in the eleventh verse it says, “Behold, all is emptiness, and the mind is troubled”.Although, the editors have only done half the work; since they have given us the song, they should give us the tune, so that we can sing.
The rest of the Bible is filled with books called the Books of Prophecy.There are sixteen chapters, from Isaiah to Malachi.Concerning those books, I have given you a list when I dealt with Chronicles.Of these sixteen prophets, all but the last three lived at the time when Kings and Chronicles were written; only two, Isaiah and Jeremiah, are mentioned in the histories of those books.I shall begin with these two men, leaving the general character of those called prophets for another part of this book.
Those who are not afraid of tediousness, if they read the book called Isaiah, will find it a collection of feverish and rambling passages; it has no beginning, no middle, and no end; Apart from a brief historical section and a few historical overviews in the first two or three chapters, it is a disorganized, overblown, full of overdone metaphors, misused and meaningless.A schoolboy will not be forgiven for writing such a thing.This is (at least in translation) a collection of sour taste that it would be appropriate to call it demented prose.
The history part begins in chapter thirty-six and ends at the end of chapter thirty-nine.Here are some events which are said to have taken place during the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah, the period in which Isaiah lived.This piece of history begins and ends abruptly; it has no connection with the preceding chapter, nor with the next, nor with the rest of the book.This fragment may have been written by Isaiah himself, since he was an actor in the circumstances he dealt with; but apart from this part; only two chapters are connected: one at the beginning of the first verse, called The Burdens of Babylon; another chapter, the Burdens of Moab; another, the Burdens of Damascus; yet another, the Burdens of Egypt; yet another, the Burdens of Tessar in the Sea; and yet another, the Valley of Fantasy; As you say, the story of the knight on the burning hill, or the story of Sinderella, or the children in the woods, and so on.
I have already pointed out that in the last two verses of Chronicles and the first three verses of Ezra the editors of the Bible combined what had been written by different authors.Regardless of other reasons, this one end alone is enough to destroy the authenticity of any compilation, because it can prove that the editor does not know who the author is, and it is not conjectural.A very striking example is found in the book called Isaiah, the second half of the forty-fourth chapter and the beginning of the forty-fifth chapter are by no means written by Isaiah, but can only be regarded as at least living in the Written a hundred and fifty years after the death of Isaiah.These chapters praise Cyrus, who allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem from their Babylonian captivity in order to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple, as in Ezra.The last verse of the forty-fourth chapter and the beginning of the forty-fifth chapter contain the following passage: "Cyrus said, He is my shepherd, who will do what pleases me; The foundation of the temple: Thus said the Lord to Cyrus, My LORD says, Cyrus the anointed, I take up his right hand, and I will bring the nations down before him; It is open before him and shall not be closed, thus I say to him, I will go before you", etc.
How bold is the church, and how foolishly the priests, to force this book upon the world as the writings of Isaiah.At that time, according to their own chronology, Isaiah died shortly after the death of Hezikiah, 698 B.C.; , in 536 BC, a difference of 162 years.I do not think that the compilers of the Bible made these books, but that they took several disjointed and anonymous texts, compiled them into a book, and gave the name of the author which best suited their purpose. .They encourage such deceit, which is not far from self-inflicted; for it is impossible, but they must also notice it.
When we see the skill with which the biblical writers practiced in subordinating every part of this schoolboy's eloquent romance to the origin of the "God Son," said to be born of a virgin by the Holy Spirit, we have Reason doubts all lies and does not believe them to be true.Every word and situation they uttered bears the vulgar handwriting of superstitious torments, forcing impossible meanings into words.
The beginning of each chapter and the top of each page are proclaimed in the name of Christ and the Church, so that the unwary reader absorbs errors before reading further.
"Isaiah" chapter seven verse 14 says, behold, a virgin will conceive and bear a son. This sentence is interpreted as meaning that the name of the person is Jesus Christ, and his mother is Mary. It has been echoed in Christian countries for more than a thousand years: this opinion prevails, and the slightest difference is met with bloodshed and frenzy.Though I have no intention of entering into controversy on these points, I confine myself to pointing out that the Bible is a forgery; so that, by tearing down its foundations, all superstitious structures built upon it would at once be overthrown.However, I'm going to pause for a moment to debunk the false application of this passage.
Whether or not Isaiah was joking with Ahaz king of Judah when he said this passage is not my business.
I only intend to point out the misuse of this passage, and to show that Christ has nothing to do with his mother any more than I have nothing to do with mine.The story goes like this:
The king of Syria and the king of Israel (I have already mentioned that the Jews were divided into two kingdoms, the one called Judah, whose capital was Jerusalem, and the other called Israel), united against Ahaz, the kingdom of Judah, and their army Lu evacuated and set off.Ahaz and his people were terrified, and according to verse 2, "their hearts all beat like trees in the forest by the wind."
On this occasion Isaiah said to Ahaz, and pledged in the name of the Lord (this is a common lie of all prophets): These two kings would not succeed against him; and to satisfy Ahaz, Said it should be so, and told him to seek a sign.The record says that Ahaz refused to do this, and his reason was that he would not put the Lord to the test: so the speaker Isaiah said, (see verse 44) "Therefore the Lord himself will give you A sign", "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son".In verse sixteen it says, "Before this child knows how to reject the evil and choose the good, the land of the two kings (meaning the kingdom of Syria and Israel) that you hate will be abandoned."
Isaiah could do so much, but in order to avoid the accusation that he was a false prophet and its consequences, he had to find ways to make the omen come true.It's not hard, because a pregnant girl can be found at any moment in the world, or made impregnated; perhaps Isaiah knew of such a thing; for I don't think the prophets were more credible then than the priests are today.Nevertheless, he says in the next chapter, verse 2, "I will call honest witnesses to record. Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jerusalem and I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to had a son."
The whole story of such a child and his mother is so, so stupid.On the basis of a blatant misinterpretation of the story, Matthew and subsequent priests with the audacity to serve base interests constructed a theory which they called the Gospel: and used the story to prefigure that they called him the Jesus Christ of this man; and according to them Christ was born of a spirit whom they called the Holy Spirit, and a woman betrothed to a man, and this woman, whom they called a virgin, was still married, and the matter was Seven hundred years after this stupid story was told.Such a theory seems to me implausible, as false and false as admitting that God is real.
① But in order to show the deceit and falsity of Isaiah, we only need to notice the consequences of this story; It was discussed in the chapter.In this chapter it is said that these two kings tried to attack Jade Ahaz of Judah, and instead of failing, they succeeded as Isaiah prophesied at the command of the Lord.Ahaz was defeated and destroyed; 125,000 of his people were slaughtered; Jerusalem was plundered, and 200,000 women and children were taken captive.There is so much to say about this lying prophet and deceiver Isaiah, yet the author of this lying book uses his name.I will continue to study this book.
Book of Jeremiah.This man, known as a prophet, lived at the time when Nebuchadnezzar was besieging Jerusalem, which was then under the rule of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah.People were very suspicious of him, thinking that he was a spy of Nebuchadnezzar.Everything about Jeremiah shows him to be a suspicious figure; in the metaphor of the potter and the clay (see chap. 17), he used a cunning way of protecting his prophecies, as if forever keeping There is a way for him to escape in case something goes against his prophecy.
In the seventh and eighth verses of that chapter, he says in the name of the Almighty, "Whenever I say of a state or nation, to uproot it, overthrow it, or destroy it; what I say If he turns away from his wickedness, I will not bring on them the evil I want to inflict." Here was a proviso against the one case, and now applies to the other.
In the seventh and eighth verses of that chapter, he makes God say, "When shall I speak of a nation or a nation, to establish and plant them, if they do what is evil in my sight and do not obey my voice ; then I shall repent, and not give them the blessing of which I have spoken." Here is a conditional promise against the other side.
①In chapter seven, verse 14, it is said that the child named him Emmanuel; but this name was not used for other children, but only for the one person whom the name signified.The one born of the prophetess was called Moham Shalal Hash Bas; the one born of Uriah was called Jesus. --author
依照这种提出预言的计划，即使上帝会犯错误，一个预言家也永远不会犯错误。这种荒谬的遁辞和这种讲到上帝的方式，好象一个人会讲到另一个人，是与任何事理不符合的，只是说明《圣经》的愚蠢而已。
至于这书的真实性，只需拿它一读，便可明确断定，虽然其中有些章节或许出自耶利米之口，但他不是此书的作者。其中的历史部分，如果可以用他的名字，大部分也是非常紊乱的；同样事件，多次重复，只不过方式不同，而且有时还是互相矛盾的；这样的紊乱情况，一直到最后一章。在这一章，书中大部分所采用的历史又从新开始，而突然中止。整个看来，全书是不连贯的，关于当时人物的轶事，是用粗鲁的方式将其汇集在一起的，宛似今天从一大包报纸中集拢起来的关于人和事物的记载，而是没有日子，次序和说明的大杂拌，这类例子我将举出两三个。
从第三十七章的记载中可以看到尼布甲尼撒的军队就是称为迦勒底人的军队，曾经围困过耶路撒冷一些时候，他们一听到法老的军队已经从埃及出来，准备进攻他们，他们就解围而退兵一个时间。为了了解这段混乱的历史，提到尼布甲尼撒在西底家的前任约亚敬统治期间已经围困而且攻下了耶路撒冷，是适当的。西底家由尼布甲尼撒立他为王，或者称为总督；至于这第二次的围攻，据《耶利米书》中说，是由于西底家背叛尼布甲尼撤的结果。这件事在某种程度上说明，耶利米有为尼布甲尼撒的利益而成为背叛者的嫌疑。他在《那利米书》第四十三章第十节中称尼布甲尼撒为上帝的仆人。
第三十七章第十一节说道，“迦勒底的军队因怕法老的军队拔营离开耶路撒冷的时候，耶利米就杂在民中出离耶路撒冷，要往便雅悯去。他到了便雅悯的门前，有个名叫伊利雅的守门官抓住先知耶利米说，你是投降迦勒底人吗。耶利米说，“你这是谎话，我并不是投降迦勒底人。”耶利米就这样被阻止了，而且遭到控告，审讯后被关在监牢里，怀疑他是一个叛变者。如本章最后一节所说的那样，他就呆在那里。
但是下面一章讲的耶利米被监禁的故事，跟这章中所说的没有联系，而把他的被监禁说是由于另一种情况，为此我们必须回到第二十一章。那一章第一节说道，西底家王打发玛基雅的儿子巴施户珥和玛西雅的儿子牧师西番雅去见耶利米，问他关于尼布甲尼撒的情况，那时他的军队是在耶路撒冷前面，于是耶利米对他们说（见第八节），“耶和华如此说，看哪，我将生命的路和死亡的路摆在你们面前。住在这城里的人，必将死于刀剑、饥荒和瘟疫。但出去归降围困你们的迦勒底人，必得生存，要以自己的命为牺牲品。”
这次的会见和谈论在第二十一章第十节的末尾突然中断。这本书的紊乱就在于，我们必需越过对十六章的其它问题的讨论，才能回到这次会见的继续情况和有关事件。这样就象我已经说过的那样，把我们带到第三十八章第一节了。
第三十八章开始说，“玛坦的儿子示法提雅，巴施户珥的儿子基大利，示利米雅的儿子犹甲，玛基雅的儿子巴施户洱（这里比在第二十一章中提到的人更多）听见那利米对众人所说的话；他说耶和华如此说，住在这城里的人，必死于刀剑、饥荒和瘟疫，但出去归降迦勒底人的，必得生存，就是以自己的命为牺牲品，而且必得生存。（这是会见时的话）所以，（他们对西底家说）求你让我们将这人处死，因为他向城里剩下的兵了和众民说这样的话，使他们的手发软，这人不是求百姓的幸福，乃是叫他们受灾祸”；在第六节中这样说，“他们就拿住耶利米，把他放在玛基雅的地牢里。”
这两种记事是不同的，而且是互相抵触的。一种说法是，他的被系入狱是因为他试图逃出这城；而另一种说法是，由于他在这城里布道和散布预言；一个说他是被城门官拘捕的；另一个说他遭到了与会者在西底家面前对他的控诉①。在下一章中（第三十九章）我们又发现这本书的杂乱无章的另一个例子：因为尽管在以前几章中已经讲到尼布甲尼撒围困这个城的问题，特别在第三十七和第三十八章；在第三十九章开始时，好象以前对于这个问题只字未提；又好象关于这个问题的情节以前告诉过读者一样，因为在第一节开始时说，“在犹大王西底家执政后的第丸年9月间巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒率领全军进攻耶路撒冷，并围困该城”等等。
但是这个例子在最后一章中（第五十二章）更使人耀眼的是：虽然这桩故事已在前面一而再、再而三他讲过，这一章中仍认为读者关于这件事一点也不知道，因为在这一章的第一节开始说，“西底家是在二十一岁那年开始执政，他在耶路撒冷执政十一年，他的母亲名叫哈慕他，是立拿人耶利米的女儿（第四节）①，当他执政的第九年10月间，巴比伦王尼布甲尼撤率领全军进攻耶路撒冷，对城安营，四围筑垒攻城”，等等。
说这本书是出于一个人之手，尤其是说耶利米是作者，那是不可能的。
任何一个人坐下来写一本作品。不会犯这么多错误。假使我或任何别人，用这样素乱的方式来写作，谁也不要读这种东西。人人都要认为作者是在发狂。
所以为说明这种紊乱的由来，惟一的方法是说这本书是一种混合物，由某一个愚蠢的作者把不但是下面第十七章所说的一桩关于埽罗和大卫相识过程的故事，与此完全不同。这里说当大卫被他父亲差遣把粮食送到营里弟兄们那里去时，大卫遇到了歇利亚。在这一章的第五十五节中说道，“埽罗看见大卫去攻击非利士人［欧拉勃］，他对元帅押尼珥说，这个少年人是谁的儿子？
押尼珥说，我敢在王面前起誓：我不知道。王说，你可以问问那个幼年人是谁的儿子。大卫打死非利士人回来，押尼珥领他到埽罗面前，他手中提着非利士人的头，埽罗问他说，少年人哪，你是谁的儿子？大卫回答说，“我是你仆人伯利恒人耶西的儿子。”这两段记事，互相说谎，因为两段都认为埽罗和大卫以前是不相识的。 《圣经》这本书太荒谬，简直难以批评。 --author
连贯和不可靠的轶事放在一起，而用耶利米的名义出书；因为故事中多次提到他，并且提到他在世时的情况。在耶利米的谎言和假预言之中，我将提出两个例子，然后进一步评论《圣经》的其余部分。从第三十八章看来，当耶利米坐牢时，西底家派人叫他来，在这次秘密会见中，耶利米力劝西底家向敌人投降。在第十七节中他说道，“你若出去归降巴比伦王的首领，你的命就必然活下来”，等等。西底家唯恐这次会见的经过被人知道，在第二①在《撤母耳记》上篇第十六、第十七两章中，我观察到关于大卫和他认识埽罗的方式是相抵触的，正象在《耶利米书》第三十七和第三十八章中关于耶利米的被系入狱的原因是互相矛盾的那样。《撤母耳记》
第十六章中说，上帝的一个恶魔来扰乱埽罗，他的臣仆对他说，（作为挽救）“找一个男子善于弹琴。”
在第十七节中埽罗说，“你们可以为我我一个善于弹琴的，带到我这里来。”其中有一个仆人回答说，看啊，我曾见伯利恒人耶西的一个儿子善善于弹琴，是大有勇敢的战士，说话合宜，容貌俊美，耶和华也与他同在；于是埽罗差迫使者去见耶西，说，“请打发你的儿子大卫到我这里来。”于是［第二十一节］大卫到了埽罗那里，就侍立在埽罗面前，埽罗甚喜爱他，他就作了埽罗拿兵器的人，当从神那里来的晋魔临到埽罗身上的时候，大卫就拿琴用手而弹，埽罗便舒畅爽快，好了起来。
①中文本《圣经·耶利米书》为第五十二章第一节，作者误作第四节。 - translator
十五节中他对耶利米说，“首领（指犹大方面）若听见了我与你的谈话，就来见你，问你对王说些什么话时，不要对我们隐瞒，我们也不会杀你；玉对你说什么话，也要告诉我们。你就对他们说，我在王面前恳求不要叫我回到约拿单的房屋并死在那里。随后众首领来见耶利米并且问他，他就照王所吩咐的一切话回答他们。”这样，这个被称为上帝的人，当他认为可以达到他的目的时，就会说谎话或极力搪塞；因为他肯定不到西底家那里去请求，而他也没有这样做，他去是因为被人叫去的，他就利用这个机会劝西底家向尼布甲尼撒投降。
在第三十四章第二节中，耶利米对西底家说了一个预言如下，“耶和华这样说，看啊，我要将这城交付巴比伦王的手，他必用火焚烧，你必不能逃脱他的手，定被拿住，交在他的手中，你的眼要见巴比伦王的眼，他要口对口和你说话，你也必到巴比伦去。你还要听耶和华的话，犹大王西底家啊，你必不被刀剑杀死，你必平安而死，人必为你焚烧物件，好象为你列祖，就是为你以前的先王；人必为你举哀说哀哉，我主啊；耶和华说，这话是我说的。”
现在，西底家不曾见巴比伦王的眼，也没有口对口和他说话，也不是平安而死，也没有人为他烧香，象为他的祖先丧葬时烧香一样（象耶利米曾经说，耶和华亲自这样说的），按照第五十二章所说的情形，和第三十二章第二节中所说的恰恰相反。在本章第十节中说道，“巴比伦王在西底家眼前杀了他的众子，并且剜了西底家的眼睛，用铜链锁着他，带往巴比伦，将他囚在监里，直到他死的日子。”这些先知，除了称他们为骗子和说谎者以外，我们还有什么可说的？
至于耶利米，他没有受到那些苦难。他受到尼布甲尼撒的宽待，把他交付护卫长，（第三十九章第十二节）说道，“你领他去，好好地看待他，切不可害他，他对你怎么说，你就对他怎么办。”耶利米后来和尼布甲尼撒合在一起，并且到处为他传播预言，反对埃及人。当耶路撒冷被围困的时候，埃及人曾出兵援助该城。对于另一个说谎他先知和他署名的书，已经说了很多了。在处理被称为属于以赛亚和耶利米的书时，我特别注意，因为那两本书在《列王记》和《历代志》中曾被提到，而其它书中没有提到过。关于其它被称为先知的书，我不打算多去操心，而是把号称为先知的品格和他们的书放在一起加以观察。
在《理性时代》的第一部分中，我已经说过“先知”一词在《圣经》的词汇中是作诗人解的，犹太诗人的思想和隐喻已被愚蠢地插入现在所说的预言之中。我这个意见，是十分有道理的，不仅因为这些称为预言的书，是用诗的语言写成的，而且因为《圣经》中的“先知”除了形容我们所说的诗人的意思外，没有用这个词来作预言解的。我也说过这个词表示一个玩弄乐器的人，对此，我也曾举出一些例子；如一伙先知用萧管，小鼓和号角等乐器演奏预言；埽罗也用它们来演奏（见《撒母耳记》上篇第十章第五节）预言。
从这一节和《撒母耳记》的其它部分来看，“先知”一词只限于标明诗和音乐；因为“先知”就指对于隐藏的事情具有透彻的见识的人，不是预言家而是一个先见者①（《撒母耳记》上篇第九章第九节）。直到这个词废弃不用时①我不知道英文中“先见者”一词在希伯来文中是否有相应的词汇。我注意到在法文中译为LaVoyont，动词Voix一词可译为“见”。 --author
（很可能当埽罗驱逐那些他所称为术士之时），“先见者”这个职业，或“先见”这个技术，才与“先知”这个词结合在一起。
按照“预言家”一词和“提出预言”的现代意义，是指在未来的很长时间以前，预先说出某些事情，所以对于“福音”的创立者在意义上必需给以言论的自由，以便把他们所说的《旧约》的预言运用或引伸到《新约》时代。
但是依照《旧约》，“先见”说的预言和后来“先知”说的预言，就“先见”
一词的意义和“先知”一词相结合而言，只提到当时经过的事情，或和它非常接近的事情；诸如他们准备去进行的一场战争，或一次旅行，或他们准备要做的一件事业，或当时悬而未决的事情，或那时他们遭遇的困难；这一切都直接和他们有关系（象已经提到过的亚哈斯和以赛亚关于下面一旬话的情况，说，看啊，必有童女怀孕生子），没有提到遥远的未来时间。那种说预言相当于我们所说的算命；诸如推算命运，预言发财和幸运的或不幸的婚姻，以及失物的复得等等；这是基督教会的骗术，不是犹太人的；是现代人的愚昧和迷信，不是古代的；它把那些有诗意的、好音乐的、变幻莫测的、富于梦想的有闲绅士们提高到他们现有的地位。但是除了一切预言家的一般品质之外，他们还有一种特别的品质。他们是有宗派的，他们提出的预言，有赞成，有反对，这要根据他们所属的派别来决定，象现在的诗歌作者和政治着作家一样，为保卫他们所属的一派而写作，而反对另一派。
自从犹太人分为两国以后，就是犹大国和以色列国；各有各的预言家，他们互相辱骂和揭发对方是假预言家、说谎的预言家和骗子等等。
犹大一派的预言家发表预言反对以色列的一派；以色列的一派则发表预言反对犹大的一派。这种带有派性地发表预言，表明它是直接由于两个敌对国王——罗波安与那罗波安的分裂。那个预言家诅咒并提出预言反对耶罗波安在伯特利所筑的坛属于犹大一派，而在那里为王的是罗波安；他在回家的路上，遇到以色列一派预言家的阻拦并且对他说，（见《列王记》上篇第十章）“你是不是从犹大来的上帝的人？他回答说，是的。”于是以色列派的预言家对他说，“我与你同样是个预言家（表示是属于犹大的），有一个天使对我说，上帝之命说，你把他一起带到你的家中，使他有面包吃，有水喝；（第十八节说）他对他说了一个谎”，然而，依据故事，这件事是犹大的预言家从未回到犹大，因为他被发现已经死在路上，这是由于以色列预言家的算计。对以色列一派人说来，他当然是自己一派的真正的预言家，而把犹大的预言家说成说谎的预言家。
在《列王记》下篇第三章中有一个故事讲到发表预言或念咒，它表明在某些特殊情况下一个“先知”的品性。犹大王约沙法和以色列王约兰，曾一度消除两派仇恨，订立协约；这两个王联合以东王同摩押王进行一次战争。
在他们的军队联合起来向前进行之后，他们没有水喝，大感困苦。于是约沙法说，“这里不是有耶和华的先知么，我们可以托他求问耶和华？以色列王的一个臣子回答说，这里有以利沙（以利沙是犹大派）。于是犹大王约沙法说，他必有耶和华的话。这段故事接着说，这三个王都去见以利沙；当以利沙（象我说过的那样，他是犹大派的先知）看见以色列王时，就对他说，“我与你有何相干，去问你父亲的先知和你母亲的先知吧。以以色列王对他说，不要这样说，那和华召集我们这三个王，乃是要交在摩押人的手里。”（意思是因为他们遇到缺水的困苦）以利沙听了说，“我指着所事奉的万军之主那和华起誓，我若不看犹大王约沙法的情面，必不理你，也不见你。”这里是一派先知的恶意和粗俗。现在我们应当看到发表预言的表演和作风。
在第十五节中以利沙说，“给我找一个弹琴的人来，弹琴的时候，耶和华之灵就降在以利沙身上。”这里是变戏法者的蠢事。现在讲到发表预言；“以利沙说，（很可能唱出他所演奏的曲调）耶和华如此说，你们要在这山谷中到处挖沟；”这就是告诉他们：每个乡民，不用提琴，不用滑稽的表演也会告诉人家取水的方法是挖沟。
但是由于每一个变戏法的人对于同样事情不象先知们那样出名；因为虽然他们全体，至少我所提到的那些人，是说谎有名的，其中有些人善于诅咒。
我刚才说到的以利沙是这一批说谎者的首要人物。就是他，用了上帝名义诅咒了四十二个儿童，结果两只母熊出来把他们吞掉了。据我猜想，那些儿童是属于以色列一派的；但是由于那些会诅咒人的人也会说谎，关于以利沙的两只母熊的故事，其可信程度，和华特生讲的关于龙的故事是一样的。下面几句就是描写他所说的：
三个可怜的儿童被他吞灭，他们无法和他格斗；张口一啜，就把他们消灭，象人吃一个苹果，只消一歇。
还有一则描写称为先知的人，说他们用梦恩和幻想来自娱；但是我们不知道是在夜间或在白天。这些，如果不是完全无害，也是很少有害的。属于这一类的有：
《以西结书》和《但以理书》；关于这些书的第一个问题是，它们是否是真的？就是说它们是否为以西结和但以理所写？
关于这一点，没有证明；但是就我自己的意见来说，我更倾向于相信这些书是真的而不是假的。我这个意见的理由如下：第一，因为那些书没有内在的证据，证明它们不是以西结和但以理写的，就象那些说是属于摩西、约书亚和撒母耳等人的书，却证明它们并非摩西、约书亚和撒母耳等人所写。
第二，因为它们不是在巴比伦俘虏事件开始以前写的；而且有充分理由相信《圣经》中没有一本书是在这一段时间以前写的；至少从这些书本身可以得到证明，象我已经指出的那样，它们是在犹太帝国开始以后才写成的。
第三，因为被称为属于以西结和但以理的书，其写作方式跟这些人写书时的情况是一致的。
无数的经文解释者和教士们曾愚蠢地运用或浪费时间于假装阐述和详细说明那些书籍。假如他们也象以西结和但以理那样成了俘虏，在解释这种模式的写作的理由时，其才智将大获改善，也可以省却麻烦，象他们已经做过的那样，不把脑筋耗费于无益的捏造，因为他们自己会发现他们也是不得已象某些人所做的那样，用一种隐蔽的方法写出关于自己、朋友，或国家的事情。
这两本书和其余的书不同；因为只有这两本书充满了梦想和幻想的叙述，而这种差别起源于作者的状况，象战俘、国家罪犯，身处异国，使他们不得不用含糊或抽象的词句相互传递甚至极为琐碎的消息和他们的政治计划或意见。他们假托做梦或看到幻象，因为他们如果讲出事实或使用明确的语言，对于他们是不安全的。然而，我们应该认为接到他们信件的人，懂得他们的意思，并不打算让其他人懂得。但是这忙碌的经文解释者和教士们神志糊涂，不明白这不是为使他们理解而写的，而且是与他们不相干的。
以西结和但以理是在约亚敬时代第一次被俘时作为囚犯带到巴比伦去的，第二次被俘是在九年以后，西底家时代。那时犹太人还是为数众多，在耶路撒冷还有相当大的力量，所以当然可以设想，处于以西结和但以理地位的人会策划他们国家的恢复和他们自身的得救；有理由认为这些梦想和幻想的记载充满于两书之中，无非是一种隐蔽的通信方法，以便于达到那些目的，就是把它们用作一种密码或秘密的字母表。如果不是这样，那末便是故事，文饰之词和无稽之谈；至少是一种幻想的方法，借以消除被俘虏的厌倦情绪，但是根据推断，应该属于前一种情形。
《以西结书》开头讲到一种活怪物的异象，又在象中见到轮中有轮，据他说是在被俘地的迦巴鲁河边看到的。试问是否可以这样推断：他所说的怪物，意思是指耶路撒冷的殿宇而言，因为殿里有怪物的像？至于轮中有轮（这是一种比喻，经常理解为政治计划的一种表示）可否解释为收复那路撒冷的计划和手段？在这本书的后半部分，他揣想自己被送到耶路撒冷，并且进入殿字，他重新提到在迦巴鲁河边的幻象，并且说（见第四十三章第三节）这个最后的异象，如我在迎巴鲁河边所见的异象；这表明这些伪称的梦境和异象，它们的目标在于收复那路撒冷，别无其它。
至于浪漫的解释和运用，他们想把梦境和幻象解释得狂热，象经文解释者和教士们对那些书作解释时那样的放荡无羁，想把它们变为他们所谓的预言，还想把它们的时间和环境移得非常遥远，甚至象在今天一样；这表明轻信与教士愚民术的极端愚蠢，已经尽其能事。
假如认为世上会有象以西结和但以理那样处境的人，那真是荒唐得无以复加了，他们的国家被蹂躏，沦陷于敌人之手；亲戚朋友有在国外被俘者，在国内者，或为奴隶，或遭屠杀，常有不测之险；所以我说，如果认为这些人无事可做，而只把时间和思想用于他们死后一、二千年关于别国所发生的事情上，再没有比这更荒谬的事了；同时，再没有比他们策划恢复耶路撒冷和自身得救更为自然的事了；而且这些书中所有模糊的和狂热的写作，均以此为惟一目的。
这两本书中所采用的写作方式，也是出于无奈的，没有选择的余地：这种说法，无可非议；但是，如果我们用这些书作为预言，那是虚假的。《以西结书》第二十九章讲到埃及时说道（见第十一节），“人的脚，兽的蹄，都不经过，四十年之久无人居住。”这种情形从来没有发生过，因此这是假的，正象我评论过的一切着作一样。这个题目的这一部分，我就到此作一结束。
在《理性时代》的第一部分，我曾讲到约拿和他的故事，也提到鲸鱼。
这个故事假使是写来教人相信的，真可以引人发笑，假使意在试验什么轻信可以忍受，则足供大笑；因为如果能够忍受约拿和鲸鱼，那末任何东西都忍受得了。但是，象我在观察《约伯记》和《箴言书》时已经指出的那样，并非经常可以肯定《圣经》中哪些书原为希伯来文，哪些只是从犹太教的着作中译成希伯来文的；由于《约拿书》和谈论犹太人的事隔得太远，对于那个题目没有说什么话，讲的完全是犹太教的事。更有可能的是，这本书是犹太教中异教徒的书，不属于犹太人的。这是一种寓言，意在揭露胡言并讽刺《圣经》中先知或祭司的恶劣和不良的品质。
约拿首先被描写为一个不服从的先知，逃避使命，躲避在从约帕开往他施的一条异教徒的船上；好象他愚昧地认为凭这种无价值的办法，就能隐藏在一个上帝不能找到他的地方。然而那只船在海上遭到大风的突然袭击：水手们都是异教徒，相信这是一种审判，因为船上有人犯了罪。他们用抽签来发现犯罪者，签落到了约拿手里。但是在此以前，他们为要使船减轻重量，把船上的货物抛在海中，当时约拿象一个笨人，沉睡在底舱里。
这支签指出约拿是犯罪者之后，他们问他是谁，以何为业？于是他告诉他们，他是希伯来人。这个故事的含意是他承认自己是有罪的。但是这些异教徒不象一伙《圣经》上的先知或祭司对待一个处于同样情况的一个异教徒那样，也不象《圣经》中所说的撒母耳对待亚甲和摩西对待妇女和儿童那样，毫不怜悯，立即牺牲。他们却极力冒着自己生命的危险来挽救他，因为记载中说，“虽然（约拿虽然是个犹太人而且是外国人，他们所遭遇的一切不幸和货物的损失，其原因都在于他），那些人竭力荡桨，使船靠岸，但是却不能，因为海浪剧烈地向他们冲击。”虽然如此，他们还是不愿把中签者的命运付诸执行；并且高呼，“啊，主啊，不要为了这个人的性命而使我们灭亡，不要使无辜流血的罪归于我们，因为你耶和华是随自己的高兴行事的。”这样说的意思是，他们认为不去断定约拿是有罪的，由于他可能是无罪的；但是他们想到落到他手中的签是上帝的命令，或者那是上帝所喜悦的。
这个祷告词，表明这些异教徒崇拜一个上帝，而不象犹太人那样称他们为偶像崇拜者。但是风浪还是继续不停，危险增多，于是他们卖行签决，把约拿抛在海中，根据故事，那里一条大鱼把整个约拿活生生吞在腹中。
我们现在要想到约拿在鱼腹中安全躲避了风浪。这里告诉我们，他曾经祷告过，但是祷词是现成的，是从《诗篇》的各部分抄来的，彼此没有联系，也不一致，对于遇难是适用的，但是对约拿当时的处境并不完全适用。这样的祈祷词，一个对于《诗篇》略有所知的异教徒，便能为他抄写一份。且不论其它，单就情况而言，就足以说明这是一个编造出来的故事。虽然，这个祈祷文被认为已经达到了目的，而故事还是继续下去（同时采取了一个《圣经》中先知的假话）说道：“耶和华吩咐鱼，鱼就把约拿吐在旱地上。”
约拿接到了去尼尼微城的第二个任务，他就动身去了：现在我们要把他当作一个传道者。他所受到的灾难，他回忆起所以有此灾难的原因在于他不服从，以及传说的关于他的脱身的奇迹，使人们这样想，这些经过足以使他在执行他的任务时应该有一个同情和仁慈的印象。但是并非如此，他进城时，满口痛骂和诅咒，并且喊道，“再等四十日，尼尼微必被推翻。”
我们现在要考虑到这个想象的传教士在执行任务中的最后行动。而这里是一种《圣经先知》的恶毒精神，或者是发表预言的一个牧师的恶毒精神，表现了人们称为魔鬼的一切邪恶的品性。
故事说，他发表了预言以后，就退到城的东边。But for what?他在退却中并未想到上帝对他或别人的恩典，只是带着有害的切望等待尼尼微的毁灭。但是故事上说，尼尼微人却信而悔改，于是照《圣经》上的说法，上帝自悔以前所说将降灾于他们之言，并未实现。 《圣经》末章第一节说：“这事约拿大大不悦，且甚发怒。”他的铁石心肠宁愿尼尼微全部毁灭，不论老少，人人死于灰烬，而不愿其预言不能实现。为了进一步说明一个先知的品性，耶和华安排了一棵蓖麻在夜间生长在他的引退之地，使他在酷热的阳光下得到荫蔽的舒适；第二天早晨，这棵蓖麻就枯死了。
于是这个先知大为发怒，准备毁灭自己。他说道：“我死了比活着还好。”
这就引起了上帝与先知之间的所谓忠告，上帝说：“你因这棵蓖麻发怒合乎理么？”约拿说：“我发怒以至于死都合理；耶和华说，这蓖麻不是你栽种的，也不是你培养的，一夜发生，一夜干死，你尚且爱惜；何况这尼尼微大城，其中不能分辨左右手的人有十二万之多？”
这个寓言的讽刺和教训到此结束。作为讽刺，它冲击了一切《圣经先知》
的品性，也冲击了一切对于男、女、儿童不分皂白的判断，这种说谎的书充斥《圣经》，如挪亚的洪水，所多玛和蛾摩拉城的毁灭，迦南人的灭绝，甚至吃奶的婴儿和孕妇都是，因为同样反映，“不能分辨左右手的有十二万人”，意思指幼儿而言；这种反映适用于他们的各种情况。这也讽刺所谓上帝对一个国家而不是另一国家的偏见。
作为一种道德，这是宣传反对预言的恶意精神，因为一个人作了坏的预言，他就肯定有这种倾向。他以自己判断正确而产生的骄傲，使他心肠变得冷酷，最后他以满意或失望的心情看待他的预言的成功或失败。这本书的结尾以同样强烈和正确的论点反对先知、预言和不分皂白的判断，这和卞雅明·佛兰克林为《圣经》而写的一章讲到亚伯拉罕和陌生人，结尾是反对不能容忍的宗教迫害精神是一样的。对于《约拿书》就到此为止。
《圣经》中诗的部分，就是称为预言的那一部分，我在《理性时代》的第一部分中已经谈到，在这一部分中也已谈过。我在这里已经说过，先知一词是《圣经》用于诗人的词汇；而且那些诗人的思想和隐喻，有许多因时过境迁，变得含糊不清，却被荒谬地确立于所谓预言之列，并且应用于作者从未想到的目的。一个教士引用任何一段经文时，他会解释得合于自己的观点，并把这种解释作为作者意见强加于会众。巴比伦的娼妇成了一切教士的公娼，而且彼此互相指摘对方拥有妓女；而他们的解释则又是非常一致。
现在只剩下少数着作——他们称之为小先知的书。我已指出，那些比较重要的是骗子，若去惊扰小者的安眠，将是一种懦弱的行为。那末让他们睡在保姆——教士们的怀抱中吧，把二者一起忘掉。
我现在已把《圣经》审查一遍，好象一人肩荷斧头到树林里去代木。树木伐倒后躺在这里；教士们如果能做到的话，也许把它们再种起来，或者把它们插在