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About The Omaha morning bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927 | View Entire Issue (March 26, 1923)
Puzzling Queries on Bible Are Invjted by Dr. Smith Pastor Urges Readers to Confine Questions Particu larly to Series on Which He Is Preaching, Dealing With Modern Christian’s Viewpoint—Gives Re plies to Letters Received During Past Week. x Are there problems In connection with tho Bible or religion that puzzle you? Kev. Frank G. Smith, pastor of the First Central Congregational church, is answering such questions addressed to him through the Bible editor of The Omaha Bee. Questions should be confined as much as possible to subjects on which Ilr. Smith is delivering a series of Sunday evening lectures in his church. Bast night, for Instance, his topic was "Tho Personality of Jesus; Is He tho Son of God or tho Son of Man: Was He God or AVas He Man; Is Ho Human or Is Ho Divine?” Not Seeking Debate. ‘T have agreed to answer through The Omaha Bee. as helpfully as I can nil questions about which sincere peo ple are genuinely perplexed, said Dr. Smith. ‘‘I will not agree to answer a broadside of questions from a per son or an Institution that already holds very definite and perhaps some what peculiar religious views and asks not especially for light and help, hut Ak>r the sake of controversy.” In short, Dr. Smith is answering questions of people who feel their own lark of information. He is not engaging in a debate with persons who believe they know already. Religious questions -to ho an snored in The Omaha Bee next Sunday should he addressed tn the Bible Rditnr, The Omaha Bee,” as early as possible this week, so that they ran be turned over to Dr. Smith in time. Questions received last week, with Dr. Smith's answers, arranged by number, are as follows: QUESTIONS. No. 1.—Through evil temptations 1 humbly confess I have committed ' some sins and do not deserve. God's * forgiveness. Througli the - temptu Z tions I have'lost the affections of one most dear to me. Will God forgive me through frequent prayer and re store my lost beloved? Please help me and answer.—A Humble Sinner. No. 2.—What is death socaUed? No. 3.—What becomes of the natur cl physical body of man or woman? How does it demonstrate and what are its conditions in all future time? * No. 4.—Does the mind, pow er. soul, spirit, etc., again use and control a natural physical body? * No. E.—What are the conditions of ihe suckling or immaturely born ' babe at socalled death, its future life, home, care, and progress? . No. 6.—Do you accept the state ; nients made In the Bible to b» llter * ally or figuratively true?—William Brown, Florence. , Asks for Proof. No. 7.—Has modern scholarship j any final evidence such as a jury 2 w ould accept in court tiiat any one i j story contained in the first 11 chap-1 tcra of Genesis is a myth? If so, name | the story and give the proofs. No. 8.—What do you understand * by the fall of man? In this connec tion please Interpret Jer. xvii 9: "Tha heart is deceitful abov> all things and desperately wicked.” Also Matt. xv:19, "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." No. fl—Will anything else than the blood of Jesus Christ justify a man before God and cleanse his wicked * heart? No. 10—If the deity of Jesus and Hig virgin birth may be questioned, * bow is Isa. ix:S to be explained, ‘‘For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder and hi| , name shall bo called Wonderful Counsellor, The Mighy God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." Also Heb. i;8, "Thy throne, * <* God, is forever and ever.” Also « Uhll.ii:ll, "And that every tongue , should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Fath er." H. M. CHAMBERS. ANSWERS. No. 1—To "Humble Sinner" would say that God always forgives where ■ there is genuine repentance, but gen * nine repentance involves something more than slcglk, morbid, sentimental sorrow for sin. It involves a sorrow , so deep and clean and sincere that " it. tears the sin out of the life and - turns away-from it absolutely and forever. God cannot forgive sin no - matter how sorry we are for it as l long as we remain In it; It is only when we arise and go to the Fattier and leave sin that he stretches out ills arms to receive ns. Now as to t he second part of your question, God will not restore your loved one in any magical way; if your repentance is genuine and sincere and the spirit of the Living God dwells in you, the glory and the beauty and the strength ; and the purity and the. nobility of your new life ought to draw your loved one back to you and probably ' will; do not expccts^Jod to do every thing as If by magic; remember we are workers together with God. No. 2—Concerning the question of death It is the belief of the Chris tlon that man Is a spiritual being; that while lie lives upon earth lie * manifests and reveals himself through natural physical body; that death means the separation of the soul or pirlt from this natural body, the , soul to pass into the realms of the : spiritual world and the body to re turn to the dust, from which It i nrne. No. 3—'Ihe natural or physical * body, according to our belief returns ' to tlm dust of the earth. Whatever ■ our philosophy or understanding is of ihe dust of the earth and whot V eru dition may be through all fu ture tiifie, answers the question »s tn the condition through all future time of tin dust that composes the physl i al body, fit is Just dust; only this and nothing more. Hotly Hit*. Spirit IJvm. No. 4—It li our belief that the aplrttual man after death dnea not again live In and control a phyalcal body; that ha Urea In and control* a *plrltual body; a body that (five* to him all the power* and the capacl ilea of Individuality and reality and per»on»llty prrhapa In a Kreater do »roi than does the phyalcal body, but a rphilual lanly adapted to the aplrltu al environment in which h* then . UvMt No. 5—Tn answer to your next question the Christian believes that all life proceeds from God; that even tho unborn babe is developing under His guidance and care and that the babe in the armp of the overshadow ing love and mercy of His abiding spiritual power and presence. Holding this faith is not a far step to believ4 that should that which wo call death, chango the program of these lives that the inflriito love and wisdom of our God would have other means Ot developing these enfolded lives In that great spiritual realm whither they go. No. fi—Many of the statements of the Bible are literally true, while many of them are only figuratively true. If you are to get all of the beauty and glory out of the Bible that is there for you, you must read it not only with all the faith at your command, but also with ail tho in telligence find has given you. Explains View on Myths, No. 7—1 am taking it for granted that the asker of this question is keeping in mind the definitions given in last Sunday's paper both of a j myth and a legend. If he is, then I answer that the best scholarship of tho past 73 years has accumulated evidence that would bo accepted by any Jury of intelligent men, if It could all be presented to them that there are both mythological and legendary elements in ail the five primitive stories in the first 11 chapters of Genesis. The consensus of opinion of practicaly all scholars who have en gaged in research is that tho early history of all primitive peoples be gins with legends and their early re ligious philosophy begins with myths. The evidence has been acoumlated and accepted by the same processes of in xestigation and studying records and weighing and balancing facts as has established the law of gravity, the laws of light and heat, the law of the conservation of energy, the in destructibility of matter, the law of radio-activity and many other things now quite generally accepted that for merly were not understood. No. 8—By the "Fall of Man" I un derstand that man was created mor ally innocent because he did not know good and evil; that in the de j \eloping process of his creation when I he came to know good from evil he did not stand the test of moral re sponsibility, but did evil knowing it I to be evil; that since the dawn of , moral consciousness this test has been applied to all men in all ages; that the very knowledge of good and evil gives to humanity the capacity i for such transcendent and glorious ; beauty of life as was revealed In Christ Jesus, who condemned sin In ! the flesh and likewise the capacity of | such degredation as is indicated in the passages you quote. Xo. 3.—In this question when you speak of the “Blood of Christ" Justi fying a man before God and cleansing his heart, of course you have your own interpretation of what, the “Blood of Christ" means. It has to bo interpreted, or course you do not mean his physical blood, for that was spilled on Calvary centuries ago. Xow, if you will allow mo to give my own interpretation of what the “Blood of Christ" means in the philosophy of the plan of salvation, then perhaps I might agree with your premises. Of course, this involves the discussion of the various theories of the Atone ment. but the fact of the Atonement Is the abiding thing and that is that Christ came to save us and that He does save us when we yield our lives to him in faith and obedience. No. 10.—In this question you are presuming that wo have questioned the Deity of Jesus and Ills Virgin Blrtht this Is In no sense a Justifiable conclusion from anything that has been said In this column or in oiir public, utterances. We have only asked that every man be allowed some freedom in the matter of inter pretation: thut lie be allowed to ex amine all of the evidence that will throw light on the stnrv of the Virgin 1 Birth and then interpret it in the way that will magnify Christ the most in I his faith and experience; and that a man may be allowed the liberty of explaining what the Deity of Jesus means to him and not be compelled to take the understanding of someone who is not arty rrTore sincere and not always ns intelligent and well read as he may be. We are only asking that in our religious thinking and in our religious fellowships we be guided more and more by the motto “In essentials unity; In nonessentials liberty; In all things charity." We do not disagrep about facts; we disagree about theories that grow out of them. We all agree that find made the world; we do not all agree about how He did It. We all agree that Christ i i-arne to nave the world; we do not all agree about just how he does it. Re ferring to the passages you quote, | please remember that no truth is ever established, but only measurably sup ported by the lifting of a single pas sage of scripture out of Its context. Roads Show Decrease in “Bad Order” Cars Washington, March 25.—Hal I roads during January, 1923, liad 9 per cent of their freight car* classified as unserviceable, tho Interstate Com merce commission reported Saturday, against 13.9 per cent so classified In the same month a year ago, end R R per cent during January, 1921. During the same period, 2R.I per cent of their freight locomotives were In bad order agnlnst 22.5 per cent In January, 1922, and 24.2 per cent during January, 1921. The commission Included In Its re port tho consolidated repair rt ord; of carriers which Indicated thni the had order preparation of freight earn | during the shop strike last summer had reached a high point of 14.2 per cent, steadily dwindling In later months. Approxlmltnly RO per cent of freight locomotives were rlnesifted In bnd order In Heptember. during the strike and si the same time 2R.R J per r ent of passenger locomotives ! were In need of repairs Keen use of war, Jerusalem has been ! captured and destroyed mors than iauy city |n history. J INSURANCE ADJUSTORS DEMAND IMMEDIATE DISPOSAL OF EVERY GARMENT IN THE DEDDEO STOCK I Three great floors in the main building, crowded to capacity with I new Easter Apparel for Men and Women, were in no degree subjected I to fire, but were scented by smoke and, in some instances, water damaged. I KE’VE RECEIVED ORDERS TO SELL and TO SELL QUICK! This vast quantity of New Spring Apparel invoicing over $200,000 will be thrown on the market at prices that are positively absurd, starting T uesday,A.M° IN THE GREATEST i This Tells the Story of the Terfible Fire That Visited Our Store March 18th It tells in the most forceful terms the extent of the fire. It conveys to your mind the real importance of this Great Fire Sale—it shows the practical total destruc tion of our new annex, and substantiating our state *h„'dmw“deo Bui,din‘d”m'"d on,y The Middle West Has Ever Known Come! Share to the Limit in this Avalanche of PRICE SLAUGHTERING We seriously doubt if another such buying opportunity will present itself to Omaha people. Here you can buy two, three and four spring garments at what one gar ment would have cost you had we fscaped this fire. Hundreds upon hundreds of Garments were in glass \ cases at the time of the fire. They are as fresh in every respect as the day they were unpacked from their ship ping cases. These same garments are offered at the same ridiculous price sacrifices as the smoke scented garments. Men’s Suits, Top Coats, Gaberdines, Boys’ Suits, Men’s Hats, Shoes, Trousers, Women’s and Misses’ Coats, Capes, Wraps,! Suits, Dresses, Skirts, Sweaters, Footwear, etc. Secure your complete Easter Outfit while such phenom enal money savings are pos sible to enjoy. 25 EXTRA SALESPEOPLE TO SERVE YOU PROMPTLY BEDDEO CLOTHING COMPANY 1417 Douglas Street