The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-12-21
BIBLE SUBJECT IF PASTORS DEBATE.
Dr. Stratton DWeIIs On Divine Theme, While Dr. Porter
 Cites Contradictions

NEW XCgk 8ec. 20.-(By Asso- efat,a Tsess. ss.l--Modernists scored seeanical vtclcEy over their conserva- ffVs. onueheHats tonight when the Rev. ksharlcs Francis Potter, pastor of est Side Unitarian church, was awarded the judges decision over the Rev Dr 1chn Roach Stratton, pastor sf Calvary ss otist church, in a public dehste on the question: Resolved: the Bible .s ne infallible word of Cod" Rev. Mir. Potter upheld the The first debate, held in pr. strat- toms church, concerned the age-old question of whether the Bible was the infallible word of God. Three judges-two Episcopalians and Christian Scientist-were selected to pass on the manner in which the ar- guments were presented, but not on the merits of the arguments them selves.
 Upho1ding the affirmative, Dr. Stratton at the outset of his prepared speech declared he based his argu mentsl upon facts, and would treat his subject in a scientific manner" which he said was so stressed by modernists who deny the Bibles in- fallibility and other fundamentalist beliefs on the ground that they do not coincide with facts proved by science.
  God, said pr. Stratton. which all fol- lowers of Christianity modernists and fundamentalists alike must con- cede, it is only logical to presume that He would reveal Himself to man. Any wise sovereign, he said, must would be absurd to suppose that God would not supply such a code. Only Question Of Code.
 With this established, the funda- mentalist leader declared his only task was to prove that the Bible is that code. As evidence to support his argument, Dr. Stratton pointed to the Bibles miraculous preserva- tion and increase" Down through the ages, he said, man has tried to eliminate it and thousands of per- sons have been killed because they persisted in reading 1t. And still it is the worlds best seller" Modern ists who build their creed upon scien- tific theories, he said. must take note Shat no scientific text book which has been written ever has equaled the Bible in popularity.
 The Bible, said the speaker has the quality of unique universality. It be- longs to all ages and tribes, and, un- like the Koran and the Vedas. has a universal appeal Its mystry element is necessary to all religion, for when
 
 we're the thing that has mystified him. It's universal appeal has caused the highest intellects of all the ages to make a deep and sincere study of the Bible.
 It took fifteen hundred years for forty authors from every walk of life to write the Bible, he said, and yet there is unity and "one spirit breathes through it all" Through out its sixty-siX divisions the Bible is one harmonious whole, and this fact IS made possible only because "the Holy Spirit of the Living God was the real author,' said Dr. Strat- ton.
 Has Stood The Test.
 " ot' 5ok has stood the test aa titera Ilfilling its prophecies, 1a assertaa Id many instances were Gu1tea 1ich the words of the atoDhers were borne out by later openings.
 3f strateon said he did not want sshi,t,s. his arguments on the infal-
 ts tho Bible upon the Bible book tnef. aeclarsa eel renetthhEr99 tthhEr99ughout the that t Is Lie work of God.
 The Bible $ the final authority in qalfs. he argued and in any walk of life there is need for such authority The whole modern phil oSophy, sdlo LIT. Stratton, when logically followed out leads not only to atheism but also to an- archy." The man who makes and follows his own laws, he declared, is an anarchist.
 In establishing the affirmative in the debate Dr. Stratton declared he did not have to prove that the Bible is infallable to all men,"
 Spiritual things are spiritually discerned just as physical things are physically discerned," he added
 In closing Dr. Stratton asked his