The Commoner.
MAY 12, 1911
good and lasting influence not only on religion,
but good citizenship and higher ideals in matters
political."
The banquet was presided over by Dean B. B.
Evans of Drake university.
A GRAND OLD BOOK
The Chicago Inter Ocean of May 5th, says:
Protestant churches of Chicago united in a mass
meeting in Orchestra hall to participate in tho
world-wide celebrations in commemoration of
the three-hundredth anniversary of tho transla
tion of the Bible into English. Tho capacity
of tho auditorium was taxed to the limit and
hundreds of persons wero turned away from
the tercentenary celebration for lack of accom
modations. William Jennings Bryan, the principal
speaker, challenged scoffers of tho Holy Word
and its divine inspirations to provo that they
were right by attempting to produce a book
equal in wisdom and teachings to the volume
which has" stood thq test of centuries.
Tho other speakers were the Right Rev.
Charles P. Anderson, Bishop of the Protestant
Episcopal church, and the Rev. Ozora S. Davis,
D. D., president of the Chicago Theological
seminary.
One of the most impressive incidents of the
evening's program was a reading from an origi
nal first edition of the King James version of
the Bible printed in England in 1611.
The book, which is valued at more than
$50,000, iB now in the possession of the New
berry library. In a locked case, the Bible was
taken from the library to Orchestra hall, care
fully guarded by three men, and as soon as the
services were over it was "hurried back to its
resting place in the library. The University
of Chicago also possesses a King James ver
sion of the Bible, but it is the second edition,
and not as valuable as that exhibited at the
recent ceremonies.
In his address on "The Book of Supreme In
fluence," Colonel Bryan spoko of the battles be
tween the spiritual and material conception of
life which have raged around the Bible for nine
teen hundred years.
At Chicago, on May 4, , at,. the celebration of
the 3 00th anniversary of the King James trans
lation of the Bible, Mr. Bryan delivered tho
following address:
For nineteen hundred years the battle be
tween the spiritual and the material concep
tions of life has raged around the Bible. "Search
the Scriptures," was the command of Christ and
to tho Scriptures the Christian world has turned
ever since for its authority.
Atheists and materialists have assailed the
Bible at every point; they have disputed the
facts which it sets forth and ridiculed the
prophesies which it recites; they have rejected
the account which it gives of the creation and
scoffed at the miracles which it records. They
have denied the existence of the God of the
Bible and have sought to reduce the Savior to
the stature of a man. They have been as bold
as the prophets of Baal in defying the Living
God and in heaping contempt upon the Written
Word. Why not challenge the atheists and
the materialists to put their doctrines to the
test? When Elijah was confronted by a group
of scorners who mocked at the Lord whom he
worshipped, he invited them to match the power
of their God against the power of his and he
was willing to concede superiority to the one
who would answer with ilre. When the chal
lenge was accepted he built an altar, prepared
a sacrifice, and then, to leave -no room for
doubt, he poured water upon the wood and the
sacrifice poured until the water filled the
trenches round about. So firm was his trust
that he even taunted his adversaries with their
failure while his proofs were yet to be presented.
The prophets of Baal, be it said to their credit,
had enough confidence in their God to agree to
the test, and their disappointment was real when
he failed them they gashed themselves with
knives when their entreaties were unanswered.
Why not a Bible test? The -Book of Books
has lived and grown through the centuries; we
are celebrating the three hundredth anniversary
of the King James translation. The Christian
world has confidence in the Bible; it presents
the book as the word at God but the attacks
made upon it by its enemies continue In spite
of the growth of the Bible's influence. The
Christian world, by its attitude presents a chal
lenge to the opposition and this Is an opportune
moment to emphasize the challenge the mo
ment when Christianity around the world Is
celebrating the triumphs that the Bible has won
during the past three centuries.
Is tho Bible tho work of man, or is it an In
spired book? Is it the product of human wis
dom, or did its authors speak as they wero
commanded by tho Lord?
Atheists and materialists declare that it is
merely tho work of man that it was written
under tho limitations that apply to human wis
dom. Taking this position, they must neces
sarily contend that, unless man has degenerated
in ability and declined in wisdom, ho can now
produco a book equal to tho Bible, hot them
produce it.
Judged by human standards, man is far bet
ter prepared to write a Bible now than ho was
when our Bible was written. Tho characters
whoso words and deeds are recorded In tho
Bible were members of a single race; they lived
among the hills of Palestine in a territory scarce
ly larger than one of our counties. They did
not have printing presses and they lacked tho
learning of tho schools; they had no great
libraries to consult, no steam boats to carry
them around tho world and make them ac
quainted with tho various centers of ancient
civilization; they had no telegraph wires to
bring them tho news from the ends of tho
earth and no newspapers to spread before them
each morning the doings of the day before.
Science had not unlocked Nature's door and re
vealed the secrets of rocks below and stars
above. From what a scantily supplied store
house of knowledge they had to draw, compared
with the unlimited wealth of information at
man's command today! And yet these Bible
characters grapple with every problem that con
fronts mankind, from the creation of tho world
to eternal life beyond the tomb. They have
given us a diagram of man's existence from the
cradle to the grave and they have set up sign
posts a't every dangerous point along the path.
We turn back to the Bible for the Ten Com
mandments which form tho foundation for our
statute law arid for the Sermon on the Mount,
which lays down the rules for our spiritual
growth. The Bible gives us the story of the
birth, the words, the works, the crucifixion, tho
resurrection and the ascension of Him whoso
coming was foretold in prophecy, whose arrival
was announced by the Angel voices, singing
Peace and Good-will the, story of Him who gave
to the world a code of morality superior to any
thing that the world had known before or has
known since the story of Him who is the grow
ing figure of all time, whom the world Is accept
ing as Savior and as the perfect example.
Let the atheists and the materialists produco
a better Bible than ours, if they can. Let them
collect the best of their school to be found
among the graduates of universities as many
as they please and from every land. Lot tho
members of this selected group travel where
they will, consult such libraries as they please,
and employ every modern means of swift com
munication. Let them glean In the fields of
geology, botany, astronomy, biology and zoology,
and then roam at will wherever science has
opened a way; let them take advantage of all
the progress in art and in literature, in oratory
and in history let them use to the full every
instrumentality that is employed in modern
civilization; and when they have exahusted every
source, let them embody the results of their best
intelligence in a book and offer it to the world
as a substitute for this Bible of ours. Have
they the confidence that the Prophets of Baal
had in their God? Will they try? If not, what
excuse will they give? Has man fallen from
his high estate, so that we cannot rightfully
expect as much of him now as nineteen centuries
ago? Or does the Bible come to us from a
source that is higher than man which?
But our case is even stronger. The opponents
of the Bible cannot take refuge in the plea that
man is retrograding. They loudly proclaim
that man has grown and that he is growing still.
They boast of a world-wide advance and their
claim is founded upon fact. In all matters ex
cept in the science of life, man has made won
derful progress. The mastery of the mind over
the forces of-nature seems almost complete, so
far do wo surpass the ancients in harnessing
the water, the wind and the lightning.
For ages, the rivers plunged down the moun
tain sides and exhausted their energies without
any appreciable contribution to man's service;
now they are estimated as 'so many units of
horse-power and wo find that their fr,etting and
foaming was merely a language which they em
ployed to tell us of their strength and of their
willingness to work for us. And, while falling
water is becoming each day a larger factor
In burden bearing, water, rising in the form of
steam, is revolutionizing the transportation
methods of the world.
Tho wind that first whlsporcd Its secret of
strongth to tho flapping sail is now turning tho
wheel at tho well.
Lightning, tho dread demon that, from tho
dawn of Creation, has been rushing down Its
zig-zag path through tho clouds as if intont only
upon spreading death has been metamorphosed
into an errand-boy and brings us illumination
from the sun and carries our messages around
tho globe.
Inventive genius has multiplied tho power of
a human arm and supplied the masses with
comforts of which tho rich did not dare to
dream a few centuries ago. Science la ferret
ing out tho hidden causes of dlseaso and teach
ing us how to prolong life. In overy lino, except
in tho lino of character-building, the world
seomB to havo been made over, but the marvelous
changes by which old things havo become now
only emphasize the fact that man, too, must bo
born again, while they show how impotent aro
material things to touch tho soul of man and
transform him Into a spiritual being. Whorcver
tho moral standard is being lifted up wherever
life is becoming larger in the vision that directs
it and richer In Its fruitage, tho improvement Is
traceable to tho Bible and to tho influence of tho
God and Christ of whom tho Bible tells.
Tho atheist and tho materialist must confess
that man ought to bo able to produco a hotter
book today than man, unaided, could havo pro
duced in any previous ago. Tho fact that they
have tried, time and tlmo again, only to fall
each time more hopelessly, explains why they
will not why they cannot accept tho chal-1
lengo thrown down by tho Christian world to
produce a book worthy to take tho Bible's place.
They have nrayed to their God to answer with
fire prayed to inanimate matter with an '
earnestness that is pathetic they havo employed ,
in tho worship of blind forco a faith greater
than religion requires, but their Almighty Is
asleep. How long will they allow tho search
for tho strata of stone and fragments of fossil)
and decaying skeletons that aro strewn around
tho house to absorb their thoughts to tho exclu
sion of the architect who planned it all! How1,
long will the agnostic, closing his eyes to tho
plainest truths, cry "night, night," when tho sun'
in his meridian splendor announces that noon
is here.
The Bible has stamped its Impress upon he
map of the world; Its boundaries aro clearly
marked and the light that emanates from tho
Christian nations Is flowing outward toward those
t who sit in darkness. Back of tho progress that
marks the present day Is the code of morala
that Christ proclaimed and back of that codo
of morals. Is tho Divine character of Him who
is both Son of God and Saviour of Mankind. It
is not necessary to rely upon his birth as a
virgin's child or upon his mysterious resurrec
tion to provo his claim to our worship. "Ho
walks today along the shores of every sea"
and performs that continuing miracle which wo
behold when a man begins "to hate the things
he loved and to love the things ho hated" that
mysterious exercise of mysterious power that
converts tho selfish, self-centered human being
Into a center from which good influences flow
out In every direction.
Tho followers of Buddha may look upon life
as a misfortune, if they will, and see escape only
in tho loss of individual identity "the dew
drop melting into tho sea;" those who believe
in the Bible will still regard life as a great
opportunity to be crowned with a Heavenly re
ward. The followers of the Arab prophet may put
their faith in force and rely upon the sword for
proselyting power; those who believe in the Bible
will still trust in the persuaslvo Influence of lovo
and depend upon its manifestations to bring
recruits to the army of the Prince of Peace.
The followers of Confucius may content
themselves with the negative philosophy of their
teacher; those who believe In the Bible renew
their strength in proportion as they embody In
their lives the precepts of Him who would mako
man a positive force for good an overflowing
spring.
Tho materialist may confine his thoughts to
the things that the senses can weigh and
measure; the Christian's faith reaches out to
ward the throne above and takes hold upon tho
verities that the mind can not grasp. i
Tho atheist may delude himself with tho
thought that ho has driven God out of tho
universe; the Christian sees the Creator every
where, hears His voice in tho promptings of
conscience and feels His presence in his heart.
To the'' doubts and "I do not knows" of the
agnostic, the Christian, Bible in hand, answers:
"I believe."
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