Evening star., 1914-02-09
B &


BUILDING 1901 LITTLE B STREE.
of the conference In the course of his
opening address the Vice President said
that the making of good men is of far
greater Importance than the making OF
laws. A community that lives In right
manner he held, is good without the
compulsion of the law. but a disreputable
community is a poor place In which to
enforce even the best of laws
Il am one of those. he asserted. who
believe that the welfare of the republic
depends upon the moral sense Of responsi-
bility of the people, that unless this re-
sponsibility is fostered regardless of al
the good laws that may be enacted, our
civilization will fail.
Religious or Superstitious.
II believe that. notwithstanding the
denial. all men are either religious or
superstitious. 1t was written in the
epistle to the Hebrews that it was an
| awful thing to fal into the hands of the
living God. But from my standpoint, it
is a far more awful thing to fall out of
His hands. 1 prefer to put my faith in
the hands of a living God rather than
on the left hind foot of a dead rabbit
IAN investigation Of the great problems
of religion and morality is needful for
the making of good citizenship. There
fore I welcome any movement which
| has to do with the study of that book
which always has been and in my juds-
| ment always will! be the basis of the
very highest and most secure civiliza-
| ton
| Rev DR.. Morgan. introduced at the
close of the Vice Presidents opening
| remarks, spoke for an hour, though to
| majority of his hearers the time
| seemed much less because Of the easy
| fiuency of the speaker and the interest
| of his address.
Time and Eternity.
"on one of the highways near the
heart of London city," he said. at the
opening of his speech, stand two great
publishing houses. One is that of the
Times newspaper and the other is that
of the British and Foreign Bible
| Society. Over the first is a clock and
| figure of Father Time suggestive of
| things transient and. passing. On the
facade of the other is an open Bible.
thereon, The Word of the Lord en-
| dureth forever a reminder in the
4 midst of transient and passing and
perishable things Of the things that
abide.
There is a value and suggestive
ness in these facts. The newspaper is
record of the practices of time. The
Bible is a revelation of the principles of
| eternity. There is closer interrelation
| between these two matters, or must l
amend my sentence and say there ought
| to be interrelation between these two
| matte =? John Wesley said: 81 read my
| newspaper to see how God is governing
| the world and that is the true way in
which Christian men should read the
newspaper. The Bible is the revela-
ton of how men ought to behave in the
1 af a Nod mar
| even can or will escape from the govern
ment of God. and in proportion as the
| uat1on, whose doings are recorded in the
newspaper. listens to the word of the
Bible the nation will approximate to the
| will OF God and reach the fulillrnent of
all that is highest and noblest and best
in its life
Discussing the values of the Bible
In the life of a nation. DR.. Morgan
| briefed his views under four heads.
! First" he said, I'VE have in the
Bible the moral standards which make
great civilizations. Secondly. we have
which issues in great philanthropies.
| Thirdly, we have in the Bible that con-
ception of man that makes for his per-
sonal. social and national uplifting.
Finally, we have in the Bible the one
and only evangel of the forgiveness of
sim"
Bryan's Tribute to the Bible.
! Prefacing his address, which followed
| that of DR.. Morgan, with the statement
that lit is appropriate that the first
| words of the Bible conference should
be spoken by a citizen Of Great Britain,
because that country has given US the
King James version of the Bible" Sec
| rotary Bryan declared that those who
accept the Bible as the Word of God
do not have to apologize for their posi-
| tion, nor do they have to defend 1t.
| The burden of proof. he said. Is rather
on those who reject the Bible; those
who deny its claim to be the inspired
Word of God are on the defensive, since
| its claim to our confidence has been
fully established.
| Atheists and materialists. Secretary
Bryan said declare the Bible is merely
| the work of man-that it was written un-
der the limitations that apply to human
| wisdom. Taking this position. they must
necessarily contend that, unless man has
degenerated In ability and declined in
wisdom, he can now produce a book
equal to the Bible. Let them produce 1t.
The characters whose words and deeds
are recorded in the Bible were members
of a single race; they lived among the
| hills of Palestine, in territory scarcely
| larger than one of our counties. From
| what scantly supplied storehouse OF
| knowledge they had to draw, compared
with the unlimited wealth of informa-
| ton at mans command today! And yet
| these Bible characters grappie tn
| every problem that confronts mankind,
| from the creation of the world to etc nal
| life beyond the tomb. They have given
us a diagram of mans existence from the
cradle to the grave, and they have set up
| sign posts at every dangerous point along
| the path. We turn back to the Bible for
the Ten Commandments. which form the
foundation for our statute law, and for
| the Sermon on the Mount, which 'ays
| down the rules for our spiritual growth.
| The Bible gives US the story Of the birth,
the words the works. the crucifix- on, the
resurrection and the ascension of Him
whose coming was foretold in prophecy.
| whose arrival was announced by the
angel voices singing peace and good will
| the story of Him who gave to the world
| a code of morality superior to anything
that the world had known before or has
| known since.
| Challenge to Doubters.
Let the atheists and the materialsts
produce better Bible than ours, if
they can. Let them collect the best Of
their school to be found among the
graduates of universities - as many as
| they will and from every land. Let
the members of this selected group travel
where they will consult such libraries
as they please and employ every modern
means of swift communication. Let
them roam at will wherever science has
opened way; let them take advantage
of all the progress in art and IN htera-