Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-01-04
S[ARCHUGH1 CLUB
LECTURES BEGIN
Professor Steiner Opens With
First of Series on the Old
Prophets of Israel
SPEAKS TO BUSINESS MEN
His First Lecture Yves the Prelude
Dealing With the Developments Of
the jewish Race From Which the
Prophets spruns-Lecture Teemed
With Interesting Facts.

Fifty representative men of the city,
including bankers, merchants, business
before which opened the Searchlight
Club lectures by Professor Edward A.
Steiner Of Grinnell College last night,
at the Y. NJ. G. A. Tuesday nights
was the first of the series of twelve
lectures which comprise the course,
six Of which will be given by Professor
Steiner, upon the subject "Hhs Old
Prophets and the New Problems"
Professor Steiner did not touch upon
his subject proper, in his opening lect-
ure, but devoted the fifty minutes Of
allotted time to tracing those earlier de-
velopments of the Jewish people, prior
to those epochs Of it's history which
have endured by the lives and teach
ings Of its famous prophets.
That Professor Steiner's portion OF
the course will prove popular ds as
sured by the interest he awoke and
the close attention he was given in the
first Of the series. He has prepared the
series and handles the history from the
point Of known facts, disregarding
those sentimentalitiess which usually
govern in Investigation Of the history
Of Gods chosen people. Professor
Steiner is Of the school. which might
be termed constructive critics, who,
taking the Bible as basis, are at
tempting to build upon it and verify
it by the aid of scientific research and
delvings into other ancient histories of
the same or earlier times.
His other five lectures will deal with
the six typical prophets of Israel,
whose lives and teachings were the
potent influence in the Christian re-
ligion, as it has been carried down to
the present day. Briefly summarized
Professor Steiner spoke in part as fol-
lows:
"As Rome stands for laws and pow
er; as Athens stands for art and cul-
ture, so Jerusalem stands for religious
influence. The Jews, altho enslaved,
came out Of their bondage untouched by
the traces of their slavery. No art or
science comes from Israel. They were
weaned away from the visible to the
invisible, from art to religious influ-
ence. They did not possess even the
elementary sciences, yet altho without
them they were not blinded by super
stition. Neither was Israel leader
in civilization. 1t invented nothing;
1t built nothing. 1t left behind no mod
ern Improvement, but it gave to the
world men-Moses, David, Isaiah, Paul
or OrI Tncs ,v,1,r ~.
world upward and onward. 1t gave the
world a surer path for life. He who
would know of the ideal relation be-
tween man and man must turn to the
old prophets. The Bible records only
those important epochs of Israel's his
tory, and much of it was untouched.
For at least 700 years the material of
which the books of the Bible were COM
posed passed from lip to lip before ever
a line was written. 1t was then taken
up and written down by different men
as the special needs Of the times de-
When the Jews became law
less those portions containing the laws
were put into manuscript. Thru many,
many years different hands have sifted
the material of the Bible, and not all
ways correctly. Until recent years our
knowledge was based entirely on the
Bible, but recent discoveries have
backed up the history of the book
Assyrian early history on tablets
agrees in main, but not in detail, with
the history of the creation and the
flood. To us 1t must not matter where
truth originates. The vital, permanent
things Of the Bible will endure as long
as our ideals remain as they are now.
Before taking up the prophets there
must come the history of the migration
Of the Jews, which began with the go
ing out of Abraham"
Professor Steiner closed by briefly
the history of the Jews,
leading up to the time of the appear
ance of the first prophets.