Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1915-04-13

The moving picture show has long
been hailed as a device of the Devil
but in about one hundred cities of the
world 1t Is being used as means OF
giving Biblical instruction. 1t Is not
cold Journalism or abstruse dogma, but
living, breathing religion, which ap
peals to both heart and intellect. "The
devil need not have all the good tunes, u
said Wesley, and he took the best and
set words to them. So the Interna-
tional Bible Students Association has
taken the moving picture film and
talking machine, enlisting them in the
service of righteousness.
Characters of Antiquity Seen.
Witnessing Creation" we may see
moving on the canvas, with every
sembance of reality, the outstanding
figures of history, with whom reading
and study have made us familiar. Phi
losopherS, statesmen, warriors, princes
potentates, scholars and artists pass in
fascinating succession before our eyes
acting the parts which were played by
earth's stage in actuality. We see the
Garden of Eden as an ingenious mag.
ination stimulated by Biblical research
pictures 1t for US. We view the stately
cities of antiquity and their modern
successors. We sweep over the world
with ever increasing interest from the
time of our remotest ancestors, for.
ward as the scroll of history unroIls,
and when we rise from our seats we
feel that the past has been made for
US a living reality instead of the dried
bones of historical chronicle.
Lectures spontaneously Given.
Ably experimenting the combination
of films, pictures and panoramas are
a series of descriptive and scientific
lectures which are delivered by a pho
nograph. These records are said to
be the finest in existence. The enun.
citation is so distinct and clear that
their message Is carried to the most
distant seats In the largest auditors
ums. The talking machines are so ac-
curately timed and geared that they
accompany the presentation on the
screen with remarkable precision The
lectures and pictures are so effectively
synchroniZed that many who attend
the performances believe the lectures
to be delivered by some orator of ex.
ceptional talent, personally present
though hidden from view
Several reels Of film telling most i'm.
pressive and inspiring stories from
both Old and New Testaments are said
to have been actually secured in the
Old World as near the locations where
the events were enacted as possible.
Sacred subjects have been treated
with becoming reverence. and there is
nothing in their presentation to offent
the most sensitive. At the same time
the dramatic possibilities of the stories
have been fully realized; there are few
secular picture-dramas which can com
pare with the tragedy of Pharaoh OF
Saul, and which are as deep In their
pathos as the story of Elisha and the
Summarizes son.
The presentation of the drama com
plete requires eight hours, each of the
four parts lasting two hours. The first
part traces creation from prehistoric
times, depicting the formation of oul
planet and its preparation for human
habitation. Then is shown the deyel
opment of plant and animal life; mex
the creation of Adam and Eve, ant
their subsequent disobedienee and ban
ishment from Eden Further ATOMS
comes a brief survey Of the Antedi
luvian Age, followed by importan
events In the lives of Noah. Abraham
Isaac and Jacob
The first character presented in par
two is Meiehisedec. who was termed