The Descent Of Man Charles Darwin 1871 THE DESCENT OF MAN by Charles Darwin INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION. THE NATURE of the following work will be best understood by a brief account of how it came to be written. During many years I collected notes on the origin or descent of man, without any intention of publishing […]

Who Was Jesus Christ? Charles Bradlaugh MANY persons will consider the question one to which the Gospels give a sufficient answer and that no further inquiry is necessary. But while the general Christian body affirm that Jesus was God incarnate on earth, the Unitarian Christians, less in numerical strength but numbering a large proportion of […]

What Did Jesus Teach? Charles Bradlaugh THE language in which Jesus taught has not been preserved to us. Who recorded his actual words, or if any real record ever existed, is all matter of guess. Who translated the words of Jesus into the Greek no one knows. In the compass of four pamphlets, attributed to […]

By Mr. Roberts MR. ROBERTS has asked and obtained Mr. Bradlaugh’s consent to the publication of this review of the discussion at the end of the published report. He has also offered to print along with it any rejoinder Mr. Bradlaugh may choose to write, but Mr. Bradlaugh has not chosen to write a rejoinder. […]

IT is an unusual and unsatisfactory circumstance for a discussion to be divided up into two parts between two separate towns. The reader will naturally be curious to know, not only how the discussion came about, but also how it came to assume this extraordinary and inconvenient shape, from which, however, with the whole discussion […]

The CHAIRMAN: Mr. Roberts will now deliver his concluding speech for which he is to be allowed the full time. Mr. ROBERTS: And now, Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the end of the discussion. It has not been so entirely satisfactory as might have been wished; but it has been as much […]

The CHAIRMAN: We have only one hour left. Let us listen with the utmost quietness. Mr. Roberts now speaks for a quarter of an hour. Mr. ROBERTS: I am surprised that Mr. Bradlaugh should insist on an English translation when the original is presented to him illustrative of a point referred to. When he asked […]

  THURSDAY, 22nd JUNE, 1876, IN THE TEMPERANCE HALL, BIRMINGHAM. THE CHAIR WAS OCCUPIED BY MR. GEORGE H. ST. CLAIR. THE CHAIRMAN: Ladies and gentlemen, this being the last night of the debate, time is of more consequence. I trust it is not necessary to make a single remark, and I shall sit down at […]

The CHAIRMAN: I had hoped, after the experience of our first meeting, that weakminded people who could not command their feelings would have stayed at home, and that egotistical people would have sent challenges of their own to the disputants against whose sentiments they wished to protest. The troublers are so much in the minority […]

Mr. BRADLAUGH: I have elected not to occupy your time beyond ten o’clock in allowing Mr. Roberts to proceed with his prepared speech, and shall, I think, be able to limit myself to eight minutes, if allowed to proceed free from interruption. First, I regret that Mr. Roberts, in his written finale, should have said […]

Mr. BRADLAUGH: Mr. Roberts says he never meant it to be understood that we were to be bound, in this debate, by the ordinary English version. But I will remind him that, in my first speech, I said I should assume, for the purposes of this debate, that he meant the ordinary authorised English version, […]

Mr. BRADLAUGH: On the first night of the debate, and again to-night, Mr. Roberts said he would contend that the prophecies of the Bible were so explicit, so sober and so useful in their character, being, in this respect, so unlike the vague, incoherent and irrational predictions of the Greek augurs, as of themselves to […]

Do you admit my definition of life as applied to man?–I don’t recollect what your definition was. Do you mean seriously to tell me that you have forgotten my definition of life last night?–Yes, but if you will repeat it, I will tell you whether I agree with it. Kindly tell me your ideas of […]

Mr. Roberts’ First Speech Mr. Bradlaugh’s Second Speech Mr. Roberts Questions Mr. Bradlaugh Mr. Bradlaugh Questions Mr. Roberts Mr. Roberts’ Second Speech Mr. Bradlaugh’s Second Speech Mr. Roberts’ Third Speech Mr. Bradlaugh’s Third Speech

Mr. ROBERTS: There are always two ways of looking at every case, and he pursues the best course who puts all the facts together harmoniously. I daresay I might appeal to the experience of every one as to mystery hanging over some particular incident, till one fact is ascertained which throws all the rest into […]

Mr. ROBERTS: You will have observed that Mr. Bradlaugh has not attempted to discuss the case of Moses from its internal peculiarities, upon which hangs a very powerful argument. I will not follow him in his remarks on what are called the Apostolic Fathers, because I do not attach any particular importance to them. I […]

WEDNESDAY, 21st JUNE, 1876, IN THE TEMPERANCE HALL, BIRMINGHAM. THE CHAIR WAS OCCUPIED BY MR. GEORGE H. ST. CLAIR The CHAIRMAN: You will be familiar by this time with the order of discussion, which is the same each evening. Last night, I think we were less interrupted than on the previous occasion, and I trust, […]

Mr. Bradlaugh, do you believe that the Jews are an ancient nation?–I believe they were an ancient race. Do you believe they have always accepted Moses as the writer of the works bearing his name?–I don’t think I have very clear evidence on the point. Some time ago an eminent Jew wrote a letter, and […]

Mr. BRADLAUGH: The remark has been made that if we take this book as a human production we cannot understand it. How useful that is. We have no other books of a similar character to which similar objections apply? Have we Lord Amberley’s new book, in which he has two sub-divisions, one of which he […]

Mr. BRADLAUGH: Mr. Roberts says that I did not make my objection about Luke and the forty days of the Acts quite clear. I will try to do so now. I say the whole of the events following the resurrection are limited to one day by the 24th chapter of Luke. You will find the […]

Mr. BRADLAUGH: I will dispose of a matter of fact first. Mr. Roberts has said that he had Tatian, Theophilus, Mileto, Athenagoras, Barnabas, Polycarp, Ignatius and others giving evidence as to the existence of the New Testament gospels, before A.D. 150. 1 call for the writings of Tatian, and I sit down until they are […]

Will you kindly tell me whether you think a book could be Divine revelation which provided that a man might steal a woman, rob her of her virtue, and then turn her out in the world without any sort of recompence?–I decline to answer the question in that form. Do you know that Deut. 21:11-14, […]

Mr. Roberts’ First Speech Mr. Bradlaugh’s Second Speech Mr. Roberts Questions Mr. Bradlaugh Mr. Bradlaugh Questions Mr. Roberts Mr. Roberts’ Second Speech Mr. Bradlaugh’s Second Speech Mr. Roberts’ Third Speech Mr. Bradlaugh’s Third Speech

Mr. ROBERTS: It suits Mr. Bradlaugh’s purpose to make these statements, but it would not suit my purpose to do what he challenges me to do, because–and he knows that well–in pursuing these unimportant enquiries, I would be prevented from doing other things which I am more particularly intent upon doing, and which are of […]

The CHAIRMAN: Mr. Roberts will now speak for a quarter of an hour. Mr. ROBERTS: I said in my opening speech that I did not require the testimony of these men whom I have been compelled to produce, in order to be persuaded that the apostles wrote the New Testainent at the time they professed […]

TUESDAY, 20th JUNE, 1876, IN THE TEMPERANCE HALL, BIRMINGHAM. MR. GEORGE H. ST. CLAIR IN THE CHAIR. THE CHAIRMAN: Ladies and Gentlemen, The order of the discussion, this evening, will be the same as last Thursday. The order of the meeting will, I trust, be kept at least as well. There was not much to […]

Does the Koran foretell the existence of Mahomedanism at a period 3,000 years after its establishment?- I think not. Then in what sense does the hypothesis of the Koran’s truth require the existence of Mahomedanism at the end of a similar time?–At what time? 3,000 years after the writing of the Koran?–3,000 years have not […]

Mr. BRADLAUGH: Mr. Roberts is good enough to tell you that I am extremely familiar with the early fathers. I am obliged to him for that admission. I wish I could return the compliment. He says they are "trashy", but he did not say so when he opened his first speech. Mr. ROBERTS: I did. […]

Mr. BRADLAUGH: Mr. Roberts, in his first speech, said he had a large number of witnesses, and that he could read from them, chapter and verse. For I challenged him to do so–that will be in the memory of all of you. I challenged them in very explicit terms; and instead of venturing to read […]

Mr. BRADLAUGH: On this, the fourth night of the debate, the names of the witnesses are mentioned, and Mr. Roberts says he can quote from them, but he has carefully refrained from doing it, and I will give you the reasons in my speech why he has not done so. He says I admitted that […]