The origin of all religions, and the ignorance which is the root of the God-idea, leads to the duty to investigate the evidences of the origin and of the growth of Christianity, to examine its morality and its dogmas, to study the history of its supposed founder, to trace out its symbols and its ceremonies; in fine, to show cause for its utter rejection by the Freethinker.

Annie Besant was a prominent British socialist, Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator and supporter of Irish and Indian self-rule.