The Caldwell tribune., 1920-01-23
Denial Of SupernaturaIIls Athe.
ism ConcIudesI J. B. Wright
In CIear-Cut Analysis Of Mod,
ern Religious Problems.

Now that politics is passing through
the quadrcnnial twilight zone we
might as we'll invade some other field
OF amusement until the great political
conventions brings it into the glaring
light of political campaign.
How would teology do?
The great world war, diverted at
tention from all mundane things until
the armistice was signed. The little
scrap in the United States senate is
rather tame for our mercurical blood
and the opportunity opens splendid
field for the old time controversy of
science and the bible.
The higher critics are again wal
lowing in clover. A book of some 400
pages shows very clearly Ito their
satisfaction) that the books of the old
testament scriptures were not writ
ten by the great authors to whom they
have been accredited, but were gath
cred up in scraps from the heathens
round about them and compiled into
books by pious Jews who lived from
three to four thousand years ago.
Their beauty of composition and
sublimity of thought is admitted not
with standing the source. Evolution
has not improved the literature of the
world. Now suppose they get their
ideas before the people who are too
busy to revel in the luxury Of con-
troversy. What are they going to do
about itl
It would be like the little dog chas-
ing the railroad train, if he catches it
what is he going to do with it1
The concluding remarks of the book
lately published, that l refer to, are
about like this. The bible in the first
chapter of Genesis teaches that God
created the heavens and the earth in
six days, but the science of geology
teaches that it took millions of years
to create the earth.
This error in reading the record in
Genesis is very common. If the col
lege bred higher critics make the blum
der, the common people seem to be
excusable. I'VE appeal to the law and
the TESTIMONY" and ask these self
styled higher critics to get down off
of their stills and act with some de-
gree of modesty.
The first verse of the first chapter
of Genesis says: I'm the beginning
God created the heavens and the
earth" What was the form of the
earthi The next verse says it was
without form. Is it so yet. we think
not. So formation began. and now
the modern science Of chemistry, (the
most exact and reliable of all the
branches Of science) comes to the res
cue and explains the conditions. The
only thing in universe without form,
are the invisible. the chief of which,
that we have any knowledge of are,
oxygen, hydrogen. nitrogen and car
bon. Two atoms of hydrogen and
one OF oxygen form water. The dia-
mond. one of the hardest substances
in nature is pure carbon, condensed
or salidified. The air we breath is a
combination OF oxygen and nitrogen,
with few extreneous gases intermin-
gled in small quantity. When COM
pressed into liquid air it assumes the
form and becomes visible. All veget-
able matter including the giant furs
and sequoia of the Pacific coast are
chemical combination OF oxygen, car
bon and hydrogen. When reduced to
ashes by heat, the gases assume their
original condition and become invisi-
BILE, the small residue OF ash, is car
Donate of potash, carbonate of iron
and other carbonates, so that the
chemist will tell you that nothing is
destroyed. it only disappears into the
original element All animal life is
combination of the gases. Mostly
three of them. The force that causes
the germ to grow and mature then de-
cline to oblivion is an unknown guam
tity. In due time after creation God
said let there be light. Chemical un-
ion as We now know causes, heat. light
and electricity, and also formation.
As to how long the time required to
bring about these changes before dry
land appears, the record does not
state. 1t may have been millions of
years. two thirds of the epochs men
TONED as days had elapsed before the
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