The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1906-10-05
.RIDIGULED THE HOLY BIBLE
oVERMYER SAYS SACRED BOOK is
NOT OF DIVINE ORIGIN.
Made His Attack on the Bible in Brief
in the Supreme Court.

Ministers of the gospel in Kansas
undoubtedly will be surprised to learn
that it remained for David Overmyer,
Democratic candidate for attorney
general. to discover that the Bible is
not of divine origin and that the
stories told in il are no longer regard
ed ''by an intelligent world" as true.
Yet, this statement has been made by
Mr.. Overmyer in one of the briefs
which he has filed in the Kansas SUI
preme court. Mr.. Overmyer at that
time told the story of the 23rd Psalm
and for the benefit of the little child
rem of the state who recite this psalm
every week he dissected it and told
what the different words and sentences
meant.
Mr.. Overmyer contended that this
Psalm, if read by country school
teacher to the pupils of the school,
tended to form union of church and
state This was in the case of J. B.
Billiard against the Board of Education
of the, city of Topeka. Billiard object
ed to sending his boy to school be-
cause the Bible was read in the morn
ing exercises.
In his argument for Billiard, Over
myer said in part in the brief he filed
with the court:
LET us analyze this Psalm Take the
| first clause. The Lord is my shepherd
| What does that mean? That might be
matter of construction. but broadly
| speaking it is committal to the propo-
| sition that the God of the Jews as de-
| scribed and recognized in the Bible, Jeho
yah. is the real, true and only God
| That He is a person in the form of
man. and that all that is said about
Him in the Bible and all the claims that
are made as to His interposition in the
| affairs of men and nations is to be ac-
| cepted as absolutely true; to repeat this
verse seriously is to accept Jehovah, and
not only Jehovah, but az that is said
about Jehovah. by those who claim to
| interpret the scriptures religiously.
az shall not want Why not? Why,
because the Lord Jehovah of the Jews
| will feed and supply me. That is what
it means or it means nothing
| "'He maketh me to lie down in green
| pastures Here the child is represented
| as a little lamb, and the Lord is the
| shepherd taking care of the lamb. pro-
| viding a bountiful green pasture wherein
| the lamb may feed
| "'He leadeth me beside the still waters.
| This is substantially a repetition of the
| former phrase 1t as well as the former
| phrase is either entirely allegorical or it
| of a man actually leads the person who
repeats it beside the still waters. The
| only reason that such literature does not
introduce infinite confusion into the minds
| Of men is because they let it pass with
out attempting to think what ii means.
land take the next phrase. He leadeth
| me in the paths of Righteousness for His
| names sake This is nothing more than
an effort to magnify the Jewish God Je-
| hovah and that too in contest with other
/ gods who were supposed to exist at the
| tire this was written.
1.-THE Jews were insisting that they had
/ the real god and that they were his
| real and only people: and this II incul-
| Gated into the mind of the child is inclin-
| ed to make him accept the theory. Why
| should any American child be made to
/ accent that theory?
..'I,e latter-nart Of this clanse shows
! distinctly the purpose of IL because 1t
| uses these words: For His names sake,
and il implies that the reason and the
| only req son that the Jewish God Jehovah
| leads the person supposed to be led in
paths of righteousness is for His names
sake Not for the sake Of righteousness
or justice among men. but in order to ag-
grandize and exalt and nut above all 9TH
err gods and all other things, the Jewish
God Jehovah.
""rhy rod and Thy staff they comfort
me- To child such language is perfect
" incomprehensible. How rod and n
staff could comfort anybody. young
child could not understand: such scrip
ture therefore. would require explana-
ton to children, and in any event the
entire proceeding would be mere trav-
esty.
"'Thou eparest table for me in the
presence of my enemies What enemies
has a little child, and why should the
Cod of the Jews prepare table before
him."