The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-08-01
THE BIBLES CRITICS
PROF. NGARvEY DEvOTEs ANOTHER
LECTURE TO THEM.
State Missionary Society's Annual
Convention Concludes with Election
Of Omcers--servfces mt Acton.

tan Church concluded It's annuai conSen-
ton yesterday afternoon at Bethany Park.
The convention had been in session. three
days this week. The officers for the ensu-
ing year, as reported by the nominating
committee yesterday afternoon, are: A.
NJ. HOFFMAN. Union City, president; G. w.
Clark, indianapolis, secretary, and Amos
Clifford, Indianapolis, treasurer. The nomi-
mating committee was composed of ]. w.
Coombs, Robert Sellers and A. s. Conner.
A. H. Morris, as chairman of the commit
tee on reports, made report indorsing
the report of E. b. Schofield, corresponding
secretary. The report also recommended
that closer relationship be drawn between
the various missionary organizations of the
State; that the first Sunday in October of
each year be observed throughout the State
as Indiana Missionary day. and that the
State evangelist Immediately take steps TO
revive the Christian churches at Brooklyn
and Centerton, which are both almost with
in the shadow of Bethany Park. The final
address of the convention was delivered by
l.. K. Murray, OF Ladoga, on Indiana
Missionary Day."
To-day promises to be one OF the busiest
days of the assembly. 1t is to be Foreign
Missionary day, and there are ten addresses
to be delivered during the day and evening.
F. NJ. Rains of Cincinnati. is expected to
be president of the day.
The attendance at the morning lectures of
President McGarvey, of Kentucky Univer-
sity, on the Bibles Account Of ITSELF in
creases each day. The lecture delivered yes
terday morning was really a continuation
of the lecture delivered on Tuesday, dealing
with the evidence given by Christ as to the
authorship of the Pentateuch, which is the
great point OF disputation among the critics
or the Bible. Inc speaker proceeded TO
take up the more conservative critics of to-
day, who profess to believe that Jesus had
no more supernatural knowledge than the
simply connecting a certain mans name to
a book does not necessarily mean that IL is
believed that that man wrote the book.
They say that people do not believe that
a man called Junius wrote the letters cred
tied to him, for In that age ii would have
been dangerous for the reaiauthor's name to
have been made known. Therefore they ar
que that simply because Jesus connected
the name of Moses to the Pentateuch Is no
Mases fop believing that he knew that
vey, that sounds plausible. The people be-
lieved that Moses was the author of the
book, and. OF course, when Jesus quoted
from IL as from Moses they took II for
granted that he believed as they did, Now,
If Jesus did not believe that Moses was the
author of the book be was basely deceiving
the people. To be sure, the more radical
critics would not object to that They be-
lieve that Jesus was merely human and
eent me night aaye Rps TO little ae
lical Study written ten or fifteen years
ago. said that II this evidence presented by
author of the Pentateuch be brought for
ward young men would cease to believe in
Jesus. Now. the trouble with DR.. Br.ggs
was that he was so wel satisfied with his
own theories concerning the authorship of
the first five books of the Bible that he was
afraid TO have the evidence of Jesus pre-
scented. for fear that 1t would offset his own
arguments.
These critics further assert that, even
though Moses might have given the numer-
Gus laws to which Jesus referred as hav-
ing come from Moses, yet these laws might
not have been written down by him. They
say that the Pentateuch might have been
laws put into it, Now, that is possible
and if the laws cited by Jesus and credited
to Moses were all that we had to rely upon
1t did not stop there. Jesus went on TO state
that the books really came from Moses
iIye% ne ,b Pieces n he speaks
ferred to the Pentateuch. as il was not
al that time divided into the five books as
we now have 1T. He asked the people If
they had not read of the burning bush in
the Book of Moses and in various other
places in the gospels He uses the same ex-
At IL o'clock President McGarvey again
occupied the platform. delivering the as
sembly lecture. His lecture was on 'The
the Of ras s sa to
doubted story. He stated that the story
Of Jonah is more often made the butt of
ridicule of unbelievers, and is more often
the stumbling block of weaklings than any
other Bible story. There are also a great
many persons Swho believe the Bible but
who say that that story was invented to
teach lesson, but was never meant to be
told as an actual fact. The speaker said
that If he were told the story OF man
being cast into the sea, swallowed up by
a whale, and, after three days, being cast
on the shore; Of going into great city and
having all the Inhabitants fall on their
faces and crying out to him; of living in a
shanty where there was no shade. and of a
he would not be inclined to believe any of
them: But he then went on to relate all
the incidents contained in the story of
Jonah and how each incident worked some
part of the will Of God He told OF Jonah
trying to escape from the Lord and his
fected the people. The story preceded him
to the Ninevites and helped to bring them
to repentance. Then,'when the Lord made
gourd vine TO grow over Jonahs small
shanty to protect him from the sun and
again destroyed 1t in single night. Jonah
became angry, and the Lord appeared to
him and told him that He was the God of
tribes of Israel. and that He had compass.
sion on the Ninevites, who were even idola-
tors. Jonah went and preached this won
derful doctrine to all peoples, and another
great thing was accomplished. Mr.. Nc
Garvey intended to prove by all these parts
OF the story of Jonah that so much was ac
compl1shed by the working out of the story
that 1t was impossible that such a story
had been invented simply to Illustrate q
certain point, but was rather a fact