Twains Book Letters from the Earth - Essay Example

Atheist Manifesto "Letter from the Earth" is one of the most famous works of Mark Twain. Its popularity is based on its association with atheism that made the non- believers love him. But from critical analysis of Twains work, “Letter from the Earth,” shows that he was not an atheist but a person thinking loudly through literature (Twain 2). Twains confusion was caused by what he deemed as contradictions in the Bible verses. The contradiction made him view the Bible as nothing but a fiction. Even though Twain might have issues with the Bible, it does not mean that he did not believe in the existence of gods or God. The essay aims to show how Twains letter, "Letter from the Earth" is deemed to be a manifesto of the atheism even though it was not his intention. Twain’s work can be viewed as an atheist manifesto due to how it negatively paints God. It depicts God as uncaring Lord, one who enjoys the human suffering and failure. For example, Twains fourth and fifth letters talk about the story of Noah (Twain 7). However, it does not cover the pessimistic view that the Christians used to view it but a more pessimistic side. In specific, the fifth letter shows that Gods impacts in nature through the flood during Noahs time have continued to impact the world until today. It argues that even though the large animals had no fault, they were destroyed by a ruthless God. The two letters message to the Christians is the God who does not care neither does He answers prayers. The sixth letter depicts God as a hypocrite. It gives God the image of one who cannot follow even His rules yet He wants Christians to abide by them. For example, it expands on the third letter which shows that God is jealous despite being against it. In addition, despite being the Christian’s Father, He puts diseases in the world, an act that is not fatherly. The seventh letter is a clear attempt to make the poor lose faith in God. It argues that why should the poor devote themselves to God yet He has made them the less fortunate in the society. It goes ahead and state that God only does things good to those who make an initiating attempt. The ninth letter of the book shows that God is not that powerful as Christians thought (Twain 16). It argues that God is not omnipresent and all knowing as Christians are meant to believe. The letter revisits the flood during the Noah’s time to explain the concept. It argues that if God knew all, he should have eliminated the human nature forever during the time since He would have known that they were going to sin again. The tenth letter highlights the concepts in both the Old and the New Testament as both times filled with ungodly acts. That is, the Old Testament is filled with war and blood while New Testament entails the creation of hell. In the letter, Satan still lays more emphasis on showing God’s double standards. For example, the Bible says the one should not kill yet God’s action goes against it. The final letter depicts how God is evil than all the creatures (Twain 18). It compares His extent of evilness to that of the slaughter conducted by Indians in the Minnesota that involved the destruction of thirty- two thousand virgins. Satan claims that God is worse than the Indians since the merely killed and raped. It further proposes that Numbers and Deuteronomy should be read along Beatitudes to understand the nature of God. From this kind of negativity, Twains letter make the Christians lose hope and faith hence developing an atheist spirit in them. The initial part of the letter shows that it was not Twain’s intention to show that God does not exist. For instance, the letter starts by recognizing the existence of God and goes ahead to give all the negative arguments against God to be from Satan. Furthermore, in the letter, Twain (2) starts by showing that Satan was under punishment, a good reason to cause negativity and bitterness in his letter. The first three letters were written by Satan to his friends, St. Michael and St. Gabriel, aimed to communicate how Christians have lost the mark. The first letter that entails Satan’s declaration of insanity on Earth is just a mere show of how the people have wrongfully conceived the heaven concept. From the start, the book agrees on the existence of a God. In the second letter, Satan shows the confusion among human beings. Even though they love the worldly things like sex greatly, they do not involve them in their heavenly expectations. For instance, people on Earth hate singing while they expect to do it in Heaven. The third letter shows the human interest to be like God even though Satan argues that God should not be emulated since the rules that he want humans to follow He goes against. For example, God punished Eve and Adam and their descendants, something that humans could not do to their children. In the eighth letter, it is clear that Twains intention was not to create disbelievers but to analysis the relationship between sin and gender parity (Twain 14). For instance, the letter specifically focuses on impacts that adultery impacts gender parity. It argues that adultery has much impact on the women compared to men. That is, womens libido does not fall during their entire life after maturity, but those of men upon reaching thirty years. Adultery is, therefore, of much impact in the sense that as their husbands libido falls, women are left hanging. Furthermore, the religious rules do not allow them to look for the sex outside marriage. Considering the ninth letter that argues that God is not all-knowing, and that is why he did not completely swept the human race during the Noahs time. The clear message in that letter, though not said, is the loving nature of God and His willingness to forgive. It also shows that God is a democratic deity that gives space for free will among His creatures. In conclusion, the Twain’s book, “Letters from the Earth”, can be considered as an atheist manifesto if his criticism of the Christian religion during his last days are taken into account. His precious arguments against the Bible can foreshadow one perception of the book and create a view of a non- believer. However, this is not what Twain had in mind. Just as the famous say goes, “I am responsible for what I say, not what you understand,” I believe the atheist misinterpreted the message. The fact that all the negative messages from the letters are from the Satan shows that Twain focus was on the confusion caused by the Bible and not the non- existence of God. Work Cited Twain, Mark. Letters from the Earth. New York: Harper & Row, 1962. Print. Read More