, 1879-02-17
QUESTION SERVICE,

4 NEW DEPARTURE by THE REV. ". r, CRAFTS.
Last night, Mt Trinity Methodist Church, On
Indiana avenue, ncur Twenty-fourth street, tile
Rev. ". +, Crafts conducted what Is termed q
.'aucstion servIce,' "a service wherein the pcn.
plc ask md the t,astor answers questions con-
cernlng the Bible und tt'e Chrlsttau religion.
Before commencing tho somewhat unusual form
Of orshtp Mr.. Cralts announced tlnt no spoken
questions could hc allowed; that there
was no time for debate. lln sud
that his answers should bc brief, ulld
that II he was uunble to answer any Of the
inquiries madu Ae should frankly admit his inn-
bll.ty. Nearly all VI tht good things Of the
world, he snld, had been obtained through the
medium of questions. Tic 1nyaluas,se dtscov-
cries Of Franklin, Morse, Watts, a,nl Edison
wcro merely the answers to questions which the
dlscoverers had propoundcd to Themselves.
Therefore tho speaker counted the "ques-
ttonn servtre as ono useful III sery-
Ing to disclose to the Qesttoners many
truths which they perhaps were unable 70 per.
cetye. 1t should be remembered, he said, that
objections weru not relutatlous; tllat the un-
explained was not necessarily the inexp!ainablc.
In years gone by there l,ad been tcnto1d more
seemingly. unc1plhtnnblu ratttrs III thu Bible:
Az tho light Of lcarlllug lla1 increased, many Of
Holy. Writ had bccn explained In perfectly
satisfactory manoer. A. tn, l!sAt con. con,
ttnued III Increase. so would thb now
mysterious uild strange tllngs be made
clear, and tho objection: would disappear: Sou,e
1'crkons claimed 10 Iulteye illat thu Bible did
not cume from God, .und the fact that 1t was
not fully understood was Inads tho basis Of
their avowed belief. II the Bible waB in all
parts clear and fully understandable the speaker
would bs at the opintou that Il was thu rtanlt
Of q colluslon between the wrItera Of tho Word,
The Bible contained the Language VI Supreme
1seing addressed to inferior a,Al finite belugs.
II was prepared Tor different races und
conditions Of nisu, and 1t must iu It's different
parts atiIcr to reach all for whom it Wns ln.
tended. It conta!ucu divine things, almost
above the understanding Of mortal belnEs,
spoken Of In hbito language. Wnn II btrH1lge
there should be- PASSAGES difficult Of comprehcu.
sIonf 1t WIS book from the author Of Nature.
Nature contained c0uutlesa difficulties, Acemiuy
contradictions. We're thu Bible, cotunG IRON tllo
author of that Nature. less cont ntfadlctory tl,an
s Nature Itself t,1s,,toa its speaksys y.u. woua
iySS. SiSls msh. as * r: E: n, "A! y IL IT,
fact still remained that 1t conai,4d tho Word Of
God, tho Divine Inspiration. There were sca.
sous why tie s0-cal,ed discrepancies were use
ful. Much Of tho finest literature Of thu world
those discrepancies. To remove ths grounds
work Of those differences would destroy much
ol the tlneat thought expressed In the English
tongue There Mas cause for cOngratulaltOn
that all tho wr!teEa had not used the same
words IN repurt!ng the Language Of Christ.
Thus the ido!atEy OF form Was prevented.
The baskets having been passcd and col!ec-
ttou Of written questions nude, the Rev. Mr.,
Crafts read from slip: -.
NWhat ID . Chriatfa1l'' A Christ!sn, said
the speaker, was ono who Kent tie co1lmanA-
| mcnts Of Gnr!st,-oae nho sspented. believed.