The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1879-03-24
SOCRATIC DEBATING.

THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE DENIED AND
AFTIRAIED-REv. c. P. MCCARTHY AS So
CRATES.
At the corner Of Fourth and South First streets.
Williamsburg, stands q rather shabby looking frame
building. three stories in height. placard on the
wall informed the passer-by that ''The Religious
Socratic Debating Society met on the top floor every
Sunday afternoon at half-past two O'Clock. Two
flights OF stairs led one to the hall where
these sessions are held. and where reporter
Of the HERALD seated himself a few moments
before the appointed hour yesterday afternoon.
The audience gradually increased in numbers till
the room about nequarter filled. Then Mr.
Mccarthy arrived and. divesting himself of coat and
hat sat down chair slightly elevated between
the two front windows. Then he borrowed watch
and, glancing his spectacles at the meagre
tendance, announced that in the absence Of the
president he would occupy the chair
Mr.. White, portly midde-aged man. with mild
eyes and patrlarchal beard then introduced. and
occupied the allotted thirty minutes i'll affirming that
the Bible is "a mere human composition. and not
divinely inspired" His opening remarks were
however, delayed moment by an old gen.
tleman, who had amused himself before the meeting
began by looking at the pictures around the room.
II understood" said he, 'that the question to be
discussed was the unreliabiliy of the Christian
ligion not merely Of the Bible and being informed
of his mistake he hustled out Mr.. White then pro-
ceeded 10 disprove the authenticity of the Bible first
telling his hearers to treat every his brother
and every woman the same" Abraham, he con-
tinued lived hundred years before the Bible
was wrote, and yet his history is here. The his
torcal part of the book begins with him. 1t shows
that he was a man given to fraud when he tried
to pass of his wife his sister. Isaac to have
been pretty good man. Then there was Jacob
and here fraud and deception begins again. He de-
ceived his father by goin' out and fetchn'
had helped him to find it soon. 50
he fetched the Lord into the deception. He the
first repository of the Bible and all the people who
had it III those days who liked to defraud
| their fellow mon Jacobs went down to
Egypt and practised deception there. Moses came
OF this family. He don't give us much account of
his first forty years; only that when he baby.
Pharaoh's daughter saved him from bein' drownded.
set bush on fire on mountain where he was. but
the bush didn't burn. And in few the angel
turns into the Lord and tells Moses to go down to
| Egypt But on his way down the Lord meets him
| at an inn and tries to kill him. but don't do it. In
Egypt he does wonders before Mr.. Pharaoh but then
we've only got his account, and that's one-sided.
Moses tells US that God made two lights one for the
| day and the other for the night. Now every one
knows that the moon is dark body except when the
| sun shines on it.
Mr.. White then accused Moses Of having spent
forty days the mount in carving the tables of the
| law which he ascribed to God. That he might not
be detected in the fraud he put chalk mark Mt the
foot of the mountain and told the people not to
| IL. lie knew they u make the gOldcn CAR ana THAT
would him the trouble Of taxing 100000 people.
| All no had to do was confiscate the calf. 1t was
| Moses who slew the Midianites and took
| their valuable metals. That butchery and
| thievery. Here the speaker stopped, and Mr..
Mccarthy. or rather Socrates. said that If he
were rich he would offer HIM S100D0O0 to find the
passage alluded to- He had read the Bible in three
four languages and had never seen that passage.
1t is either there not there. Find 1t acknowl-
edge the fasehood After long searching the passage
| was found and read. "Oh, no." said Mr. Mccarthy.
| "you said he slaughtered 100000 Jews Mr.. White
protested that he had done nothing of the sort.
| young in the audience TO his defence, but
was Immediately silenccd by Mr. Mccarthy, who ex-
claimed. Excuse me; this is the Socratic mcthod-a
very simple one. The question lies between Mr..
White and me-
The proceedings terminated with a collection.