A  MARTIAN  EXAMINES  CHRISTIANITY         by  Arthur Levett,                                             Page  36
Chapter  VI
The Martian Examines The OLD TESTAMENT
The Martian went quickly through the pages of the Old Testament  handed him by the Rabbi,  and his face assumed a mystified expression.  “ Did I understand you gentlemen to say that this is the word of your god,  and that he inspired its writing? ”
     “ Yes,”  said the Fundamentalist.
     The Modernist started to speak,  but checked himself.
     “ But I do not understand,”  said the Martian.  “ I find here  an account of the creation of the world.  Am I to assume that this is a true account? ”
     “ Absolutely,”  said the Fundamentalist,  the Priest,  and the Rabbi.
     “ Gentlemen,”  said the Martian,  “ I hesitate to disagree with you;  yet what I see here cannot be true.  I notice an account of the creation of your first ancestor,  who,  it appears,  was made from the dust of the ground,  just after your world came into being.  It gives his age,  how old he was when his eldest child was born,  and the ages of his descendants.  By a little calculation  it would appear that  according to this account  the age of our universe is a little under six thousand years,  How can that be when we Martians know our world and yours are millions of years old? ”
     “ Nevertheless,  every word there is true,”  said the Fundamentalist.

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     “ Then I see this book indicates that your world is flat.  We Martians,  and you too,  know that it is round.  It tells of the creation of the stars  after the creation of your world,  while we know that there are stars  millions of years older than our own planet,  which is older than yours.”
     “ The Bible is true,”  said the Fundamentalist.
     “ It is axiomatic with us,”  continued the Martian,  “ that of two diametrically opposed statements  one must be untrue.  Reading the book from this standpoint,  I am exceedingly perplexed over the many contradictions I find,  in view of your reiterated statements that every word is true  as inspired by your God.  May I indicate some of these contradictions? ”
     “ Why,  of course,”  said the Rabbi.  “ But I am sure that what you might consider contradictions  are readily reconcilable.”
     “ With your permission then,”  said the Martian,  “ I will point out some of them,  although I see  what are to me  so many that I cannot mention them all.  In the very beginning of the book  there is an account of the creation of the earth and its inhabitants.  There it is said that the earth was at first without form,  and  ‘ the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.’ 1  In the second chapter  the earth is represented as being first  a dry plain  lacking even moisture.” 2
     “ There is an explanation,”  said the Priest.
     “ The Martian continued:  “ According to the first account,  the birds came out of the water, 3  but in the second account  they are said to have come out of the ground.” 4 
     “ Both statements are true  or they would not be in God’s Book,”  said the Fundamentalist.
     “ The first account says the trees were made on the third day  and that man was formed three days later. 5
1 Gen.  i. 2.
2 Gen.  ii. 5, 6.
3 Gen.  i. 20.
4 Gen.  ii. 19.
5 Gen.  i. 11, 27.
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The second account says that man was made before the trees. 6  The first account relates that the man and the woman were made at the same time; 7  the second account says that the woman was made after the man.” 8
     “ They represent different view-points of the inspired writers,”  said the Fundamentalist,  goaded into an attempted explanation.  “ If we had a full understanding of all the conditions of life and the circumstances  under which the several narratives in the Bible were recorded,  we would find that many of these seeming difficulties would disappear.”
     The Martian went on:  “ In the seventh chapter of Genesis  it appears that a man named Noah was commanded to take into a vessel called the Ark  seven males and seven females of all clean beasts;  and that he did so. 9  Later it is said that only two of the clean beasts were taken into the ark.” 10
     The Fundamentalist replied:
     “ Those of us who hold to the infallibility of the Bible  believe that the original manuscripts were absolutely accurate.  No man would question the possibility of the slipping in of minor errors,  through copyists,  and it seems evident that God may have even permitted some such difficulties to enter,  to hold the interest of the world in the Book  through all ages,  and in order to challenge and stimulate faith.”
     “ I see,”  said the Martian  as he continued to turn the pages.  “ Here I notice in regard to one Abraham  it states that he had a wife named Keturah, 11  but later it says she was only his concubine; 12  that in one place it states he had two sons,  Isaac and Ishmael, 13  while in another place it says  Isaac was his only son.” 14
6 Gen.  ii. 7, 9.
7 Gen.  i. 27.
8 Gen.  ii. 22.
9 Gen.  vii. 2.
10 Gen.  vii. 15.
11 Gen.  xxv. 1.
12 1 Chron.  i. 32.
13 Gen.  xvi. 15;  xxi. 3.
14 Heb.  xi. 17.
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     “ But Isaac was Abraham’s son by Sara  his wife;  that is what is meant,”  said the Priest.
     “ Let us go on,”  said the Martian.  “ I find your God is reported to have said,  ‘ Thou canst not see my face;  there shall no man see me and live,’ 15  but I notice that one named Jacob said,  ‘ I have seen God  face to face and my life is preserved.’ 16  I notice also that certain men named Moses,  Aaron,  Nadab,  Abihu,  and several of the leaders saw the god of Israel,  for it says,  ‘ They saw God and did eat and drink.’ ” 17
     “ Will you permit me to say,”  said the Priest,  “ that we have long been cognizant of these apparent contradictions?  Our holy men have noted and studied them in connection with other ancient writings,  and I can assure you there is not a seeming discrepancy  such as those you are pointing out  that has not been satisfactorily and logically reconciled.”
     “ I thank you for the explanation,  but I would like to mention some others,”  said the Martian.  “ I find it reported that your god repented of the evil he had said he would do unto some of your people,  and he did it not. 18  Yet you say he is unchangeable.”
     “ You did not get the real meaning of that,”  said the Rabbi.
     The Martian proceeded:  “ I understood you to assert that your god is everywhere at once,  but I find that in connection with two cities,  named Sodom and Gomorrah,  he said:  ‘ Because their sin is very grievous  I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it  which is come unto me;  and if not  I will know.’ ” 19
     “ That is a figure of speech,”  said the rabbi.
15 1 Ex.  xxxiii. 20.
16 Gen.  xxxii. 30.
17 Exod.  xxiv. 9,  10,  11.
18 Jonah.  iii. 10.
19 Gen.  xviii. 20,  21.
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     “ You tell me,”  continued the Martian,  “ he is merciful  and that his mercy endures for ever;  but I find he is reported to have given this command:  ‘ Now go and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have  and spare them not;  but slay both man and woman,  infant and suckling,  ox and sheep,  camel and ass.’ ” 20
     “ But they were the enemies of Israel,”  said the Rabbi.
     “ So I understand,”  said the Martian.  He continued:  “ I find it said,  ‘ His anger endureth but a moment,’ 21  but in another place it says,  ‘ Ye have kindled a fire in mine anger  which shall burn forever.’ ” 22
     “ It is a matter of interpretation,  said the Priest.
     “ Here,”  said the Martian,  “ I find it said that  ‘ God is not a man  that he should lie,’ 23  but in another place it is said,  ‘ Now therefore behold the Lord hath put a lying spirit into the mouth of all these  thy prophets  and the Lord has spoken evil concerning thee.’ ” 24 
     “ You misunderstand these passages,”  said the Priest.  “ I would like to repeat that every apparent discrepancy has been satisfactorily cleared by our trained theologians.”
     “ May I inquire as to this passage?  asked the Martian.  “ I find it said here  that a king named Baasha died and was succeeded by his son Elah in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of King Asa; 25  but in another place it says that in the thirty-sixth year of King Asa,  Baasha came up against Judah. 26  Now that was ten years after his death  according to the first account.”
     “ That has been explained,”  said the Priest.
     “ It is all true because it is God’s Word,”  broke in the Fundamentalist.  “ Besides,  if everything in the Bible were absolutely plain and simple,  we would have no need for faith in connection with it,  but would walk by sight and not by faith.”
20 1 Sam.  xv. 3.
21 Ps.  xxx. 5.
22 Jer.  xvii. 4.
23 Num.  xxiii. 19.
24 1 Kings  xxii. 23.
25 1 Kings  xvi. 6,  8.
26 2 Chron.  xvi. 1.
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     “ I will bear that in mind,”  replied the Martian.  “ For the present I have several other things to ask in regard to this book.  You have repeatedly assured me that your god is good,  merciful,  and just.”
     “ We all agree on that,”  said the Priest.  The rest nodded assent.
     “ Yet I find that he confesses that he is a jealous god,  that he is a vengeful god.  I find him         ”
     “ Let me explain,”  interrupted the Modernist.  “ We know that the god  as painted in the Old Testament  never existed.  We up-to-date Christians have an entirely different conception of God.”
     “ You don’t believe this part of the book to be inspired? ”
     “ Certainly not,”  answered the Modernist.  “ We have outgrown that idea.”
     “ But you must admit,”  said the Rabbi,  addressing the Martian,  “ that you find many noble sentiments throughout the Book,  and exhortations on the part of these good men,  the prophets  as we call them,  to practise good works,  to be generous,  kindly,  merciful,  honest,  and truthful.”
     “ Yes,  I do notice that,”  said the Martian,  “ and they appear to credit these good,  kindly,  and noble sentiments to their god.  But,  whereas I find that they speak of this god as kind,  good,  and merciful,  nevertheless,  wherever he himself appears on the scene  or his ways become manifest  he shows himself to be just the contrary.  He is said to be truth-loving,  and I find him practising deception and lying. 27  He is said to be against stealing,  yet he encourages your people to steal the jewels of the people amongst whom they lived; 28  to steal the land of others who have done no wrong.
27 1 Kings  xxii. 23.
28 Exod.  iii. 21,  22.
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He is said to be against murder,  against adultery,  and yet he orders and encourages wholesale murders and adultery,  rape,  and pillage. 29  He is said to be just,  and he punishes children for the sins of their fathers, 30  and hardens the heart of a king  and then punishes him because of it. 31  He is said to be merciful,  but I find him commending the slaying of innocent women and children. 32  In fact,  accepting the evidence of this book,  I cannot find him otherwise than a jealous,  cruel,  vindictive,  vengeful,  merciless monster,  who is the exemplar and abettor of all sorts of deeds which we Martians consider evil.  If your standard be the same as ours,  how can you say these men who preached goodness  are preaching it because of their god’s example? ”
     “ You are right,”  said the Modernist.  “ That is why we,  who have looked at this book from a sensible point of view,  do not accept it as inspired,  but as a human document  written by men who reflect the spirit of the times in which they lived,  and who painted their god in accordance with the views of those times.”
     “ I deny that,”  said the Fundamentalist,  “ and I wish you would tell me,  if these prophets did not get their ideas of right from God,  where did they get them? ”
     “ Oh,  that is easily explained,”  explained the Modernist.  “ There were many moral and ethical men living long before the Bible was written,  whose codes were equally as high as,  and I am willing to admit  in many respects higher than,  the code of the Old Testament.”
29 Exod.  xxxii. 27;  2 Kings x. 11; 
     Num. xxxi. 1 - 54.
30 Exod.  xx. 5.
31 Exod.  ix. 12,  23 - 26.
32 Num.  xxxi. 1 - 54.

Chapter  VII    The Martian Examines
                        The NEW TESTAMENT

Chapter  V       The Martian Inquires
                        As To GOD’S WORD

Home:  Chapter  I         The Martian Visits The Earth