George L. Burns, ed., in Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, 6 vols., (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania History Department, 1898-1912) vol. 1, no., pp.2-5 Hanover Historical Texts Project Scanned and proofread by Mike Anderson, January 1998. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Concerning the Times of Assembling at Church [1] That the temples be closed for the rest of the time [2], in order that no one shall enter therein out of hours, impelled thereto by superstition ; and if anyone be found engaged in any special act of devotion therein or near by he shall be admonished for it: if it be found to be of a superstitious nature for which simple correction is inadequate then he shall he be chastised. Blasphemy. Whoever shall have blasphemed, swearing by the body or by the blood of our Lord, or in similar manner, he shall be made to kiss the earth for the first offence ; for...

"The heavens revolve daily, and, immense as is their fabric, and inconceivable the rapidity of their revolutions, we experience no concussion -- no disturbance in the harmony of their motion. The sun, though varying its course every diurnal revolution, returns annually to the same point. The planets, in all their wandering, maintain their respective positions. How could the earth hang suspended in the air were it not upheld by God's hand? (Job 26:7) By what means could it [the earth] maintain itself unmoved, while the heavens above are in constant rapid motion, did not its Divine Maker fix and establish it? Accordingly the particle, ape, denoting emphasis, is introduced -- YEA, he hath established it." - John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms, Psalm 93, verse 1, trans., James Anderson (Eerdman's, 1949), Vol. 4, p. 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Those who assert that 'the earth moves and turns'.....

in Merrick Whitcomb, ed., Period of the later reformation in Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, 6 vols., (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania History Department, 1898-1912), vol. 3, no. 3, pp. Hanover Historical Texts Project Scanned by Mike Anderson, January 1998. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whitcomb's Note: Among the possible reasons which prevented Calvin from appearing personally against Servetus there was one which must have seemed of itself sufficient. The laws regulating criminal actions in Geneva required that in certain grave cases the complainant himself should be incarcerated pending the trial. Calvin's delicate health and his great and constant usefulness in the administration of the state rendered a prolonged absence from the public life of Geneva impracticable. Nevertheless, Calvin is to be regarded as the author of the prosecution, and in this and i...

The hapless family were pulled from their slumber and taken to jail. Ten-year-old Hänsel was left behind with the Pappenheimer's landlords. The next day, not knowing what else to do with him, the landlords took little Hänsel to the jail to be with his parents. The Pappenheimers were kept in the custody of a man by the name of Alexander von Haslang zu Haslangsreut, Grosshausen und Reid. Haslang had the responsibility of turning the Pappenheimer family into an example of extreme justice. After their capture, Haslang arranged for the interrogation and torture of the Pappenheimers. He accused the family of multiple crimes and of practicing witchcraft in league with the Devil. Although the Pappenheimers declared their innocence of crime and of witchcraft at first, a bit of carefully used torture made them change their plea. Fundamentally, Haslang was not terribly interested in the case, and thought that an accusation of witchcraft would remove the Pappenheimers from his custody. His ass...

Taken from: European Witchcraft by E. William Monter Department of History, Northwestern University John Wiley & Sons, Inc. page 85. This is in many ways an unusual trial for witchcraft. The time and place are typical enough- the episcopal city of Bamberg in Franconia during the Thirty Years' War. But the victim in this case was an extremely prominent person, the former burgomaster of the city. Very seldom did a witchcraft trial reach so highly placed a person, although perhaps a dozen cases of even more prominent victims could be cited. Second, what makes the trial of burgomaster Junius Johannes truly unique in the annals of witchcraft is his secret letter to his daughter composed during his trial, and printed here. Many hundred thousand good-nights, dearly beloved daughter Veronica. Innocent have I come into prison, innocent have I been tortured, innocent must I die. For whoever comes into the witch prison must become a witch or be tortured until he invents something out of h...

A Discourse Preached in the First Presbyterian Church, Augusta, Georgia, on Sabbath Morning, Jan. 6, 1861: Wilson, Joseph R. (Joseph Ruggles), 1835-1903 MUTUAL RELATION OF MASTERS AND SLAVES AS TAUGHT IN THE BIBLE. A DISCOURSE PREACHED IN THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, On Sabbath Morning, Jan. 6, 1861, BY JOSEPH R. WILSON, D. D., PASTOR. Published by Request. AUGUSTA, GA STEAM PRESS OF CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, 1861. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 3 CORRESPONDENCE. AUGUSTA, January 7th, 1861. TO THE REV. DR. WILSON:-- Rev. and Dear Sir:--Having heard your sermon on yesterday, and believing it to be of such a character that its free circulation may bring about great good, and a better understanding of the basis upon which the relation of Master and Slave, as it exists in the Southern States, rests; and that, to sustain us in our position, we have both "the law and the testimony," we earnestly ask ...

"...the only 'right' a sodomite has in a Chrisian Theocracy is the right to die." [Dan Gentry, of Christian Research]

"So let us be blunt: we must use the doctrine of religious liberty to gain independence for Christian schools until we train up a generation of people who know that there is no religious neutrality, no neutral law, no neutral education, and no neutral civil government. Then they will get busy in constructing a Bible-based social, political and religious order which finally denies the religious liberties of the enemies of God." [Gary North, quoted in Albert J. Menendez, Visions of Reality: What Fundamentalist Schools Teach (Prometheus Books, 1993)] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The long-term goal of Christians in politics should be to gain exclusive control over the franchise. Those who refuse to submit publicly to the eternal sanctions of God by submitting to His Church's public marks of the covenant--baptism and holy communion--must be denied citizenship, just as they were in ancient Israel." [Gary North, Poli...

, "God in His law requires the death penalty for homosexuals." [R.J. Rushdoony, Reconstructionist theologian, in a letter to Mel White] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Democracy is the great love of the failures and cowards of life." [R.J. Rushdoony, _Thy Kingdom Come_,1978] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The state is a bankrupt institution. The only alternative to this bankrupt 'humanistic' system is a God-centered government." [R.J. Rushdoony, Reconstructionist theologian, from _The Religious Right: The Assault on Tolerance and Pluralism In America_, published by ADL] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Christianity is completely and radically anti-democratic; it is committed to spiritual aristrocracy." [R.J. Rushdoony, Reconstructionist theologian, from _The Religious Right: The Assault on T...

"I don't think Christians should use birth control. You consummate your marriage as often as you like and if you have babies, you have babies." [Randall Terry, one of the people behind the current campaign to blockade health clinics and publicly harass and humiliate women] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good.... If a Christian voted for Clinton, he sinned against God. It's that simple.... Our goal is a Christian Nation... we have a biblical duty, we are called by God to conquer this country. We don't want equal time. We don't want Pluralism. We want theocracy. Theocracy means God rules. I've got a hot flash. God rules." [Randall Terry, Head of Operation Rescue, from The News Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Aug 15, 1993] -------------------------------------------------------------------...

Many atheists, myself included, have argued with Christians and Creationists so long, that we've noticed many of them seem to repeat the exact same statements over and over again, particularly with respect to their dismissals of what we have to say. By "dismissals", I mean that they usually end their thread of the conversation with a put-down. For example, first on the list below is "I'll Pray for you", which sounds nice, but on closer scrutiny is really nothing more than pious sounding condescension. When most Christians or Creationists end their conversation with "I'll pray for you", they are essentially saying, "Well, I'm right, because God has giving me the gift of faith and obviously hasn't given it to you, or some such self justification for their position. This artful technique enables them to ignore any opposition despite which one of the participants is better educated on the topic or presents their argument better......

Recently I recieved some correspondence from one of the visitors to ExChristian.Net. Below is the article he submitted. The article is reproduced in full without editing. Mr.VanAllen, I'm working with a couple of friends on a compilation of Christian Rationalizations. I think these compliment your "Cliche Answers Christians use when faced with Ex-Christians or other Non-Believers". Here's the content... do with it what you desire. Michael Lawless -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Basic Apologetic Rationalizations I propose that there are 14 (maybe more) basic rationalizations used by Christian apologists to explain away the impossibilities, inconsistencies, violence and conflicting verses of their Holy Bible. These 14 rationalizations (Christians might call them explanations) can be offered any time a Christian apologist is confronted with some aspect of a story in their "good book" that is extraordinary or othe...

When Anu the Sublime, King of the Anunaki, and Bel, the lord of Heaven and earth, who decreed the fate of the land, assigned to Marduk, the over-ruling son of Ea, God of righteousness, dominion over earthly man, and made him great among the Igigi, they called Babylon by his illustrious name, made it great on earth, and founded an everlasting kingdom in it, whose foundations are laid so solidly as those of heaven and earth; then Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak; so that I should rule over the black-headed people like Shamash, and enlighten the land, to further the well-being of mankind. Hammurabi, the prince, called of Bel am I, making riches and increase, enriching Nippur and Dur-ilu beyond compare, sublime patron of E-kur; who re-established Eridu and purified the worship of E-apsu; who conquered the fo...