The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1897-07-29
BILL ARP'S WEEKLY LETTER.
THE WRITINGS OF INFIDELS AND
ATHEISTS CONDEMNED.
SHOCK WILLIAMS SENSIBILITIES.
The Great Mysteries Of Nature Refute
Their Agnosticism and Ordinary
Mortals are Satisfied.


These modern agnostics, skeptics,
atheists and infdels are having lively
time in the New York papers. The
columns are open to them and it keeps
our Christian and God-fearing people
busy in replying to their assaults upon
the Bible and Christianity. No two
of them seem to have the same faith
or to be fighting under the same gen.
eral, but they are all engaged in storm
ing the citadel, some on one side and
some On another and with different
weapons of warfare. They are pull
downers instead of build-uppers. One
set assaults the miracles and seem to
have a special spite at Jonah and the
whale. Another set denounces Jeph-
tha for sacrificing his daughter and de-
nounces God for permitting it. They
are equally indignant against David
for having Josiah slain and against
Samuel for ordering Saul to slay the
women and children and cattle of the
Amalekites. They declare that all these
stories are fakes or, if true, that God
is o brute for allowing such outrages.
Some believe in the New Testament,
but not in the old, while others ridi-
cule the miraculous conception of the
virgin Mary and pronounce it a
woman's trick to hide her shame.
Some write from a medical standpoint
and assert that man is by no means
perfect creature physically, but could
be improved on in many particulars
for instance, the calf of the leg should
have been in front and there should
have been one eye in the back Of the
head and the elbow joint should have
had a back action, so that man
could scratch his back and q woman
button her dress or fasten her skirt
more conveniently. They declare that
a perfect man should be built to run
like horse and swim like fish and
fly like bird, and Shakespeare they
say, was only indulging in little
taffy when he wrote 'what piece of
work is man. How noble in season; !;
how infinite in faculties; in form and
moving; how express and admirable; in
action how like an angel; in appre-
hension how like god"
Some Of these writer's talk about sa-
cred and divine things with the most
shocking contempt and intimate that
nobody but towards. and lunatics be-
lieve in them. They would make Vol
taire and Tom Payne ashamed of them
selves. Now, if a man has doubts
about the miracles or the divinity Of
Christ and is really seeking after the
truth and expresses himself in Ian
guae:e that shows respect for the faith
of his fellow men, it is all right; but
we are too helpless to be vain or con-
ceihd. If knew where I came from
or where I was going or what would
be my future state or if could pro-
long my existence or could foresee the
calainities Of life and prevent them, I
could afford to strut around and play
Sir Oracle. But I feel my helpless
ness more and more every day, and
like child in trouble I want to 60 to
my father. Whether there be q God
or not, all the good people I have
ever known or read about believed
there is, and it is disrespect to them
to take His name in vain.
Addison says that Sir Robert Boyle,
who was the greatest naturalist that
Engla ever produced, had the most
profound veneration for the Supreme
Being and never mentioned the name
of God without q pause-a visible stop
in his discourse. No well-bred man
is ever profane or speaks the name OF
God irreverently. I cannot under
stand how medical men who have
studied the anatomy of the human
body-this complex and wonderful
macline-should ever be skeptical
about Gods existence. If I knew how
my will, which is immaterial, controls
nv muscles, which are material, aid
make me extend my hand or my foot
or c;ose my eyes and open my mouth,
I night boast of little knowledge;
but as it is, the raising of my arm or
the writing with this pen is greater
miracle than Jonah living three days
in the whales belly. Every seed that
gerrainates and makes flower is
miracle to me. Sometimes I wonder
if had a glass that would magnify a
million times could I see the embryo
oak in a little acorn; could 1 see the
orar ge tree in the seed of the fruit.
AL nature is full of miracles. Wind
ing 1p the canes in front of my ver-
anda are madeira vines that climb one
way and hop vines that climb the
other way and jasmine vines that
clim b both ways. Every plant has its
own laws, and they are Interchangeable.
Just SO with the beasts and birds and
insects, and I almost envy them In
thei, happy ignorance of death and a
future state. Hundreds of katydiis
are singing in the grove while 1 w:lte.