Now we have put before us the issue between Christianity and Freethought. It is necessary that we should define for ourselves what is Freethought. The word is on men’s lips, and I am not sure that they understand what they mean by it. Let us try to understand what is Freethought. It may mean one of three things. It may mean freedom as opposed to necessity, it may mean freedom as opposed to authority, or it may mean freedom as opposed to responsibility. As regards the first of these, by freedom as opposed to necessity, we mean that a man is free to think in one way or another, that it is not absolutely necessary for him always to think in one way or another; that is to say, his thought is not the necessary product of physical constitution, that his thoughts do not grow out of him, as the blade grows out of the seed or the flower out of the plant; that it is not mechanical or necessary, but that a man has the power to choose how he will think. Then as to freedom as opposed to authority, we mean that a man is not bound to think like other men—that is, his thought is not subject to any other man’s, and he has a right to say, “That is your opinion and not mine.” Freedom of thought as opposed to responsibility means that a man is not answerable for his belief, and that whatever he thinks on any subject, he is never to suffer for his belief in any way whatever. These three are the only possible meanings.
First, freedom of thought as opposed to necessity. Does Christianity deny this freedom? On the contrary, it asserts and vindicates it. Christianity teaches that man is free, and terribly free, to will his own belief. It teaches this by the fact that it tells us a man is answerable for his belief, for a man cannot be answerable for that in which he has no choice, any more than he has of the colour of his hair. If he be answerable, it can only be because he has the power of choosing. It is remarkable that many people who call themselves Freethinkers, insist on it that man is not answerable for his belief any more than for the colour of his hair. They thus deny the freedom of thought. Freedom and responsibility always go together; so you see in this view of Freethought, Christianity, so far from denying it, asserts it against many Freethinkers; and in this respect the Christian is the Freethinker, and maintains the doctrine of Freethought.