The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-02-03

tender associations of the place that
would make us feel that we saw it as
Irving saw it. And yet some men seem
to school themselves against studying
the spirit of the Bible. They read mere
ly the letter of the book BY reading
the letter only they lose the true pur-
pose for which the Bible was given as
guide to US through this world to the
other
Case of Galilei.
The fact was conspicuously illustrated
in the persecution of the physicist and
astronomer, Galilei. You are familiar with
the story of his life. He was not the
The first inventor of the telescope, but
he was without doubt the first intoili-
gent user of it. lie focused his eyes upon
the heavens and began to follow the
movements of the heavenly bodies He
went on in his Investigations until at
last he found out that the earth moved
around the sun. "Absurdr Absurd" or ed
the Church of Rome. The earth does
not move about the sun, the sun moves
around the earth. Does not the Bible tell
us that Joshua halted the sun above Giu-
con and the moon in the valley of
Avalon? Away with the hereto, Away,
away Then the so-called literahst
priests placed the heavy hand of the NV
upon Galilei and would have tortured
initiating recantation: with sincere
heart and unfeigned faith l abjure curse
and detest the said errors and heresies
wiz, that the earth moves etc1. | swear
that | will never in the future say or
assert anything verbally or in writing
which may give rise to a similar suspicion
against me. |. Galilei. have abjured as
above with my own hand"
Now was there ever such unmitigatcd
nonsense as that act Of the church? 1t
was the setting up of claim that II
LOOK written to teach morality and re-
llglon should be an authority on science
also 1t was as If one should insist
on taking an incidental reference of a
physician on a question of music as an
authority superior to the dictum of a
musician. The Bible writer's, intent on
teaching men how to live in this world
so as to be happy In the next learned
IN the things of God. but unlearned IN
the crude science of their times, accented
the Ideas current at the period and passed
on to their appointed topic. But Gal.1ei
was declared a hereto on such tesH-
inohy and saved his life only by reeanta-
ton, Let us be careful lest we demand
or the Bible more than 1t was ever in
tended to teach.
More Bieoted Stupidity.
The same bigoted stupidity of the
medieval church we can find in The
church of the eighteenth and nine
leehth centuries The scientists went
on IN their Investigations, and they
proved that this old planet was not
created 5000 or 60O0 years ago 1t has
been developing during thousands upon
thousands and hundreds of thousands
OF years. The Bible, by the way, does
not nix date for the creation. IT Nero
ly says, in the beginning" CThe dates
on the margin are those of Archbishop
L ltrad In
century A d. The biologists went on
IN their Investigations and found eras and
epochs and ages, perhaps a million years
apart. Not only did science prove the
immense age of the earth, but that the
development was a slow process of ages
Ihey brought these facts to the church
| ana said, Come and see and study" The
church threw up its hands in horror.
what will become of our Bibles If YOU
prove those statements true?" they OK
claimed. docs not the Bible declare
that God made the earth and the heavens
~ SIX days? No more and no less
But. said the scientific theologians
perhaps the day of Gods creation
meant an era, not day of twenty-four
hours" Absurd" cried the church.
YAbsurdi A.day means day of twenty
four hours and nothing else" So the
church fought the investiga lions of sci
ence. They fought them on and fought
church members" If you believe this
heresy you are not a Christian" The re-
suit was the church continued to read tho
first chapter of Genesis as literal history
until it made itself absolutely ridiculous.
They overlooked the essential fact that
the day" of the creation is not a day
of twenty-four hours "One day is with
the Lord as a thousand years and n
thousand years as one day" III Peter
iii, 81.
Now these is the same disposition To-
day as there was in the medieval
church and in the church OF the nine
tenth century. Some church members
today are trying to stir up internal
strife by reading the letter OF the Bible
instead of the spirit of the Bible. They
are trying to take certain Bible passages
of and twist them out of all semblance
o. their true meaning. They do this
with the assumed air of great spiritual
erudition and gospel sanctity When they
quote these passages, they look at US
in very condescending way, as much as
to say; Have you not forgotten such
and such a passage? Do you not wish
YOU knew much about the Bible as L
do?'
Spirit of the Bible.
We should read the spirit of the Bible.
More than that, we should never try to
solve the unsolvable mysteries of God
and his work, which can never be solved
this side of the grave. No, it is a wise
man who is wiling to recognize the fact
that there are certain limitations to his
mental and spiritual faculties 1t is a
wise man who is willing to confess that
there are certain things he does not
know and never will be able to know
this side of heaven. When you and |
come to that glorious conditions of mind
and soul, we shall open our minds and
hearts to the full enjoyment of the gospel