Blue-grass blade., 1895-01-06
REV. PRESIDENT MCCARTNEY
OF Kentucky University has Lately
Preached a Sermon About Jonah
and the Whale, and Defends
that Famous Fish Story.

that Famous Fish Story.
Rev. ]. w. McGarvey, of this city, as
the President of the Theological Depart
ment of Kentucky University, occupies
the highest theological position in Ken
lucky, and is the most conspicuous as an
author and orator of any theologian in
this State Personally he and are good
friends, and tribute that he paid me
from his pulpit has been published in
various papers in this State. He is now,
and always has been, my literary patron,
and would not oppose him except that
as an honest and intelligent man | aim
compelled to do so. He is the only
preacher in Lexington that ever knew
to try to do any good, and he did that by
preaching against the saloons and broth
els Of this town. If he had stuck to 1t l
would have ignored his theological
vagaries, for he was a Prohibitionist,
and seemed likely to do some good; but
he soon got tired of it, found there was
not any money in it, and that it WASH to
the way to make friends, so he threw up
the sponge as reformer, and just at an
hour when the Prohibition party needed
help he deserted us, and wrote to Bob
Meals Evangelist" that it was no time
to throw away your vote on Prohibition,
and he went to work to elect to Congress,
from this district, the Democrat Bill
Owens, of whom the New York World
lately printed that he was the "best ad-
vertised gambler in America" and that
only a few Sundays since, Bill Owens
gambled all day Sunday and all Sunday
night with Nat Goodwin, an actor, and
that Bill quit having lost 81 900.
If there had been any reason to believe
that Rev. McGarvey was ignorant OF
Bills reputation, or if McGarvey had
said that he was ignorant of it could
have forgiven this; but there was no ex,
cuse for him in this quarter.
Since then McGarvey has written in
the Christian Standard some long arti.
cles in support of the story of .Noah,s
flood. challenged him to meet mein
oral or written debate on this subject
and though we got our theological train.
ing in the same school, and l am just as
we'll known as a defender of infidelity as
he is of Christianity, he deigned no reply
to me, but. by his silence, got off on me
that old gag, that majorities can always
successfully work on minorities, in let.
ting the world see that he did not regard
me as worthy of his august attention.
And now again lately he has gone to
Nicholasville, town twelve miles from
here, and preached sermon on Jonah
and the whale, in which he took the pos.
ition that that story was actually and
literally true, as narrated in the Bible.
dare Rev. McGarvey to preach that
sermon again, in Nicholasville or Lex
ington or any other town, and invite me
to be present to answer it; or l dare him
to write any argument in support of the
truth of the Bible story of Jonah and the
whale, in any newspaper in Lexington
l will print all he has to say about it, and
so will any newspaper in the town.
dare him to meet me, at any time, or any
place, in any kind of discussion of the
story of Noah's ark, or Jonah's whale, in
which he defends the Bible account OF
them, and if he does not meet ME shall
believe it is only because he is afraid to
do it; and yet he knows that he is q
skilled orator, with the popular senti.
ment on his side, while ! am no orator
and would have the crowd against me.
will not make this challenge to any
little one horse preacher, but will ex-
tend it to any recognized prominent
priest or preacher in this town.
am not willing to say that Rev. Nc
Garvey would defend this famous fish
story, commonly recognized as the big
gest fish lie that ever was told, though
fish lies are generally whoppers, simply
because he makes money by it, but do
say if Rev, McGarvey lost half as much
money in defending that story as he now
makes by defendidg it, we would never
hear of his preaching a sermon to defend
that Bible story.
While do not call upon any preacher
to renounce publicly that Jonah whale
story, or any of the many similar yarns
in the Bible, and am content to let them
keep their mouths shut on that subject
while they and have equal rights to
do our own private thinking about it, ]
am not willing to let pass, without my
protest, a sermon asserting the truth OF
the Jonah whale story from man OF
Rev. McGarvey's standing in this COM
munity.
If Rev. McGarvey breaches that that
story is true when he does not believe
it, he is Just as bad liar as any other
man who lies for money.
III ne uOeS DelleNe that stoIy 10 tiuSi
then it is the misfortune in his intellect
ual perception of the force of testimony
induced by the heredity of ages of reli-
gious superstition, and he has no right
to entail his misfortune upon others, II
we can stop him, purely by force OF ar
gument for even when we inhdels are
in power in this country, as will be in
fifty years from now, do not want to
resort to violence, as the church has al
ways done, though should oppose al
lowing any preacher to take pay for
preaching If he breaches the Bible. be-
cause it is getting money under false
pretense.
1t is public shame and scandal that
any man who is intellectually capable OF
believing the story of Jonah and the
whale, should be placed in any capacity
to instruct the youth of the land.