The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1900-02-15
BILL ARP ON LYMAN ABBOTT.
THE BlBLErHE ONLY STANDARD.
ihe Georgia Philosopher on the
Higher Criiicism-M Moses Had Abun-
daut Resources at Hand.

dant Resources at Hand.
a great lawyer whose chief busines
Was to defend criminals was asked th
secret OF his success, and he replied
1t Is 10 deny everything and call 70
TN proof" Now England agnosticisn
and higher criticism of the Scripture
seem to have like mayim. The deepe
mau goes into science the more in
cllned is he to call Tor the proof; es
pecially if he has more learning than
brains, and has to strain his mint
to solve the mysteries OF life and ma
ture.
l vas rumiuating about this, for
had just read the press dispatches thai
Rev. Lyman Abbott, who succeeded
Henry Ward Beecher, had in public
address in Boston declared that the
Book OF Genesis was Il myth-a legend
written before the flood by some un.
known prophet-and that it was impOs
stblc for Moses to have known of the
things that transpired 1000 years be-
fore he was born, and he asks, What
were lis resources il they were not le
gends and myths?"
| know that it does not become me
to teach theology o" the infallibility OF
the Scriptures, but it occurs to me that
If Mr.. Abbott can undermine the Book
structure OF Biblical authority that has
withstoOd the wear and tear of time
Tor all these centuries. The Bible is
the standard OF the ages-the headlight
OF th9 nations, and it must stand as u
| whole or fall rs whole. The reyer.
end gentleman processes to believe in
the new testament and part of the old
but il he is really Christian he must
| believe rs much OF the old testament as
the Savior and His apostles did. TWAS
Christ who said in the parable Of Dives
and Lazarus, " If they will not believe
Moses and tue prophets, neither will
they believe though one rose from the
dead" This is that Moses who pre-.
dlcted the coming OF the Savior when
he was giving the laws to the children
OF lsrael-that Moses to whom God
intrusted the tables Of stone that con-
tanned the commandments, and who
wrote the most beautiful song ia the
Psalms Of David-that Moses who ap
peared in glory on the mount while
the Savior was transtigured = that Mo-
ses OF whom Paul said he was faithful
as testimony Of those things which
were to como after. differences are
too numerous to quotc-all showing
that Moses was the vice-regent OF the
Almig hty, and WAS prophet inspired
by Him.
No, Nj. Abbott cannot uphold the
new testament and pull down the old
lie must sustain or demolish all. 1t is
the same old attack of science upon
miracles o2cau u,e they cannot be ex
planned upon any hypothesis Of human
reason wncn the truth Is that Mr. a b.
oott himself i5 q stupendous miracle,
and cannot tell how he thinks or where
the power OF thought or the faculty OF
memory is located, nor how he can at
will raise his hand or close his eve; nor
how he took form and shape in his mo.
theirs womb. All nature is miracle
the leaves OF the trees, the color of the
n2wers, the flight OF the bird, tho intin.
tie smallness Of matter and germs, the
intin tie magnitude and boundless exteat
OF the heavens and OF space, and in all
creation there is nothing that has
pride, vanity and sclf-concclt save man
AN agnoStic or skeptic or an infdel-
" The fool (only( has said in his heart,
there Is no God"
We'll, now, leaving out the inspira
tiOn that guided Moses when he wrote
the Book OF Genesis, let US come down
to human reason and see whether Mo-
ses had resources or not.
MIR. ABBOTT is nov sixty-fve-years
old. He is the son Of kev. Jacob Ab.
bott, who was born in 1903 and Jacob
was the son OF Revolutionary sire
Mr.. Lyman Abbott has children and |
perhaps grandchildren. That would |
make five generations from his grand
sire. This Mr.. Abbott lived in COM
munion with his father forty four years,
and probably was u young man when
his grandfather died. Now, II his grand |
sire and his sire were good, truthful, |
Christian men, and no doubt they were,
how easy 1T was for Lyman to get a
true account OF the Revolutionary war
so far as relates to all the incidents
that his grandfather knew OF or took |
part in. And how easy for Lyman to |
hand 1t down correctly to his children |
and grandchildren. No inspiration is
needed nothing but truth and a good |
memory. This i3 precisely the case |
with Moses-only six persons were
needed to transmit the account of the |
creation from Adam down to Moses. |
True there were twenty seven genera
tions during that long period OF years,
but they Tapped over each other sur
prisingly, and it seems to have been
dispensation OF providence that they
should. The chronology of the Mosaic |
account is as clear as bell, and figures
do not lie. Adam Tapped over into La.
mech and lived with him fifty. six
years, and Lamech was Noah's father.
Surely Lamcch told Noah all about the
creation, Tor he got it direct from
Adam, and he lived with his son Noah
500 years-had plenty OF time didn't
he? Noah had a son named Shem,
who went into the ark with him, and
reckon during the long rainfall the
old gentleman didn't have much else
to talk ahouV to his children besides
hn ttbK Il N,t. Il Ia L