The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-06-18
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proposition has been brought up again in the public journals Whether men regard the story as a truth or a myth 1t is enc over which both wise and un- | wise people have wrangled from time immemoriai, with no satisfactory re- suits. Those who disbelievs the story make two points. provided it is admit ted that the great fish was a gen. uine whale. The first is the fact that the swallowing apparatus of the real whale is much too small to admit man of even ordinary size. Then they point out that it would be humanly i'm possible for a man to live three days in the belly of a whale, even if that animal should succeed in swallowing him without doing him any injury. These disbelieyers. 1t will be observed, discards all idea of a miracle having been performed. and found their argu- ments solely on the physical obstacles toN the story. It is somewhat doubtful If any other disputed point in the Bible has been the cause of more controversy than this whale and Jonah occurance. l But now. as The Kansas City Jour- of universal interest that this hoary question is to be threshed out in the courts, and it is promised that early next September we may expect a final legal determination of the mighty is- sue in the case of the Bible college of Missouri against the Rev Gustavus A. Hoffman. How Jonah and the whale happened to be mixed up in the troubles of the Rev. Mir. Hoffman is an interesting circumstance. It ap- pears that Hoffman gave his note for s5.ooo to the Bible college. where he was employed as financial secretary. After two years of service he was dis charged. and then he refused to pay the note because. as he alleges, the college was teaching that the story of Jonah being swallowed by the whale is a myth. He also says the college denies that Moses, was the author of the book of Genesis and t'e Penta- teuch, and that the story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden was only beautiful fairy tale. But the main point of this singular controversy, as we understand it. rests upon Jonah and the whale"
 It occurs to us that we may with good reason expect some quite inter esting developments when this case comes before the learned judge, and the opposing counsel get down to busi- ness. It must be admitted at the out set that the testimony will be all the hearsay class. To begin with, if we take the Bible story as true historl- cal event we are not sure that the men who cast Jonah overheard saw the fish swallow him. They were in sore distress because of the raging sea that threatened to swallow them and their vessel. and the probability Is that none of them kept watch to see what be-
 
 any of them actually saw him swal- lowed it doesn't telp matters much. for ! presumably they are all dead--very dead, in fact, and we have no req son to suppose that they left any af- fidavits or certified statements behind them which MT. Hoffman's attorneys can produce as evidence in the case.
 But although. there will be no eye witnesses put on the stand and no affi- davits submitted to the court. MT. Hofr- man proposes to do the next best thing and bring forward experts to prove that he is right and the Bible College away off. Among the witnesses he proposes to introduce we find the names of J. W. McGarvcy, president of the Bible college of Kentucky university at Lexington; J. w. Lord, editor of The Christian Standard, of Cincinnati; college, West Virginia, and R. D. Du- gan. president of the Bible college of Drake university, Des Moines, Ia. While it is true that none of these men saw the swallowing act performed, and can- not of course testify from his own knowledge as to what actually occur red. they are all well versed In Bibli- cal and other ancient history and their testimony will have much weight with jury of intelligent men. Taken al- together the case will te an interesting one. and contains possibilities of no small moment After 1t is all done with we may be forced to agree with the old colored preacher of whom we have lately heard. He was preaching about Jonah swallowing a whale, as he put it, when a somewhat incredulous sister asked "Brudder Thomas, dug you raly think dat Jonar swallowed dat whale?" Well. sister Feeby," was the reply, I'm not 'zackly shore about dat, but dar was shorely some swal- lerin' goin' on." LOOKING BACK AT WATERLOO.