- Dale R. Broadhurst's  SPALDING  RESEARCH  PROJECT -
Solomon Spalding
(1761 - 1816)
Undated Spalding Statement
(c. 1812 -- first published by RLDS in 1885)
first mentioned by E. D. Howe in 1834
  • pg. 01  Spalding's unbelief/infidelity
  • pg. 02  His valuing of biblical ethics
  • pg. 03  Social benefits of biblical belief
  • pg. 01  Enhanced high resolution graphic

  • Transcriber's Comments  (forthcoming)



    • Photo of p. 1, courtesy of Oberlin College
    Return to: Solomon Spalding Holographs   |   Fairchild's 1886 review

     
           
           
      But having every reason to place the   01:01
      highest confidence in your friendship & pru-    
      dence I have no reluctance in complying with    
      with your request   in giving you my senti-    
      ments of the christian Religion --   & so far from   01:05
      considering the freedom you took in making    
      the request, impertinence, I view it as a mark    
      of your high esteem for me   affectionate soli-    
      citude for my happiness.   In giving you    
      my sentiments of the christian religion   01:10
      you will perceive that I am not tramelled    
      with traditionary & vulgar prejudice    
      that I do not believe certain facts & certain    
      facts & certain propositions to be true merely    
      because that my ancestors believed them   01:15
      & because they are popular; --- In forming my    
      creed I bring every thing to the standard of rea[-]    
      son -- that intellectua[l] This is an uerring & sure guide    
      in all matters of faith & practice. Having    
      divested myself therefore of traditionary &   01:20
      & vulgar prejudice   & submitting to the guidance    
      of reason   it is impossible for me to have the    
      same sentiments of the christian religion which    
      its advocates consider as orthodox --   It is in    
      my view a mass of contradictions & an [hetero-]   01:25
      geneous mixture of wisdom & folly -- nor can   01:26
           
           

     

           
           
      I find any clear & incontrovertable evidence of its   02:01
      being a revelation from an infinite benevolent    
      & wise God. It is true that I never have had the    
      leisure nor patience to read the elaborate & va[-]-    
      ried productions of divines in its vindication   evry   02:05
      part of it with very critical attention or to study    
      the metaphissical jargon of divines in its vin[-]    
      dication ---  It is enough for me to know that    
      propositions which are in contradiction to    
      each other cannot both be true & that doctrines & facts which   02:10
      represent the Supreme Being as a barbarous &    
      cruel tyrant can never be dictated by in    
      -finite wisdom. Whatever the clergy say    
      on the contrary can have no effect in altering    
      my sentiments ---  I know as well as they   02:15
      that two & two make four & that three an[-]    
      gles of a triangle are equal to two right    
      ones ---  But notwithstanding I disavow any    
      belief in the divinity of the Bible & consider    
      it a mere human production designed   02:20
      to inrich & agrandize its authors & to ena-    
      ble them to manage the multitude --- yet    
      casting aside a considerable mass of rubbish    
      & fanatical rant, I find that it contains a    
      system of ethicks or morals which cannot   02:25
      be excelled on account of their tendency to    
      ameliorate the condition of man, & to pro-    
      mote individual social & public happiness   02:28
           
           

     

           
           
      & that in various instances it represents the   03:01
      Almighty as possessing attributes worthy of    
      trancendent character.  Having a view theref[ore]    
      to those parts of the Bible which are truly good    
      & excellent I sometimes speak of it in terms of   03:05
      high commendation.  & indeed I am inclined    
      to believe that notwithstanding the mischiefs    
      & miseries miseries which have been produced by the bigoted    
      zeal of fanaticks & interested priests   yet    
      that such evils are more than counterbalanced   03:10
      in a christian land  by the benefits which    
      result to the great mass of the people by    
      their believing that the bible is of divine    
      origin & that it contains a revelation    
      from God. ---  Such being my view of the   03:15
      subject I prefer my candle to remain under    
      to remain under a Bushel, nor make no exerti    
      ons to dissipate their happy delusions.    
      As   03:19
           
           
           
           

     

    Transcriber's Comments



    Undated Solomon Spalding Statement



    (under construction)






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    Last Revised: Oct. 1, 2006