The sun., 1909-01-24
TEE BIBLICAL MIRACLES.
nvca tho Orthodox Inclined to Onef
Naturalistio Explana All ons.

| To TIE EDITOR OF TEE SuN-Siy. Several
years ago an editor eminent In the Sunday
school world was asked II the fall OF the
walls OF Jericho as recorded In the Book
OF Joshua was q miracle. He unhesitat-
ingly replied In the Affirmative. but he has
tened to add:
We may believe that natural causes lntervened
that the marching OF such mighty host seven
times around tho walls would set N motion vbra
tious which must cause them to topple and fall.
when later he was reminded that the
house OF the hsrlot Rahsb remained stand
ing, although II was built into the wall. he
remarked:
We may suppose that the part OF the wall into
wblch her house was built was allowed 10 stand:
or We may suppose that the Almighty suspended
her IN air until after the sack OF the city.
About a year ago I heard a proVinent
preacher argue for the verify Of the Jonah
nsh story. lie reminded us that he had
read 81 variety OF whale which has an ar
chamber so large that three men could i've
In Ii for some considerable time In compare
Nantucket / repeated what / had heard to
an eminent American naturalist. for many
years curator In a museum but iatteriy
That he knew OF no such whale. Wifi me
he agreed that the naturalistic explanation
destroys a supposed miracle as a miracle.
his miracle by his explanation OF It he may
tell us that the miracle In the Jonah story
was in the fact that God brought the whale
around I0pahs WAY a. s,IS the bs ssnnS moi
thus save his miracle. for the law OF cha nces
re veals the fact that out OF some hundred
JSn.h' thrown oEs1eosrdd S.d one Il m sure S 10 e ee
TO Elneveh. provided a whale is fitted with
suitable travelling accommodations.
The mo mSdsTn d ioysr Gi u the B'oe s6ry owe' vsn
on, outdoor life In the Holy Land. Prob
ably never before has 40 American who is
OF nature and who is at the same time q
Palestine and described so charminely what
sprlnstimes which that land experiences;
He recognizes at a glance the birds and
common shrubs and wild flowers, lie has
an artists love for local color. and he is able
to describe things so that he can make is
see what he sees and experience what he
experiences.
fessor and man OF letters, who takes him
self too seriously as a Biblical critic, we
come upon natnrallstio explanations OF the
does. TO be sure. let the story Of the stand
ing still OF the sun at the word OF Joshua
pass as a notion by Iemarking that the
70 .srs other fsse Of Re old 9" folk
stories by taking them as narratives Of
fact and employing the naturalistic method
TO explain them. This is true OF his treat
ment Of the narrative Of Israels crossing
the Red Sea. He accepts here the common
theory. II satisfies him. But he has his
own explanation OF the crossing OF the
Jordan. A clay blum up. the stream fell
and blocked the river and so allowed the
children OF Israel to cross unhindered.
Other supposed miracles are taken as seri-
onsly and apparently explained to the
doctors satisfaction in much the same
way. The strange thing about 1t all is that
II Is done in the ina Rined interests OF Ameri-
can scholarship. when in reality an nm
taught medieval monk might have done
as much.
When shall We be able to read the
Bible az we read other books and take It's ,
wonder tales In the same vav as we take
those Of other peoples. as the Greeks. for
e example7 There Is after all gain rather
than loss when one brings reverently the /.
scientific temper OF mind TO the reading of F,
the Hebrew and Christia Scriptures No |
literature is more worthy OF such handling !
and none more gloriouslv rewards him who /
so reads II. TRCTH LOVER.
WICHITA, Kan. January ~.