Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-19
RELIGIOUS FORUM
IS HEARD BY 1900
barrow, Rabbi Simon, 0'Brien
and Or. Pierce Express
Views.
By THOMAS r. HENRY.

TAerS are al leaSL Two pSISOuS III
Washington who believe the world was
Alone IN an audience Of 1000 these
two, q man and woman, rose bravely
at the washington Auditorium last
night when Quinn O'Brien, Chicago
lawyer and Catholic layman, insisted
that he didn't believe anybody there
accepted literally the first chapter Of
Genesis any longer.
It was at q joint presentation of the
viewpoints of Protestant, Catholic, Jew
and agnoStic. Clarence Darrow, evan
gelist of agnosticism, had just huiShed
ridiculing the Bible accounts Of crea-
ton and the miraculous adventures OF
the tribes of Israel which, he seemed
to take for granted, were fundamental
in the creeds Of his three antagonists
Besides Mr.. O'Brien these were Rev,
DR.. Jason Noble Pierce, pastor of the
First Congregational Church, who repre-
sented Professionalism, and Rabbi Abrain
Simon of the Washington Hebrew Con-
gregation, who presented the viewpoint
Of Judaism.
But, Mr.. O'Brien said, Mr. Darrow
has simply set up a straw man and
then knocked it down-his viewpoint
warped by his contacts with the print
tive theology of the hill people of East
Tennessee whom he encountered In the
ago. Educated Protestants, Catholics
and Jews everywhere, he said, long
since have passed the stage of literal
acceptance of the Old Testament
miracles.
Fights Against Ignorance,
MIR. Darrow insisted that his fight
was against carrying over "the wierd,
impossible and idle prattle of babies
fo1ke iY1tn a CQrArati0Y1
that lives on science"
Folks talk of God" he said, "as Of q
next-door neighbof. But 1t Ia al pure
speculation. No man has seen Him or
heard Him. Moreover men have created
for themselves what they have refused
to the other animals-immortal souls
But not q single fact known to man
sustains the belief in immortality. Such
belief defies every fact in the universe,
but still man clings to 1t.
He insisted that the facts OF biology
were strongly against the existence of a
soul and there Is no movable loca-
ton for the hypothetical heaven" OF
the creeds. Referring to st. Paul as
"the author of Christianity" he said
that the Pauline doctrine of the final
reassembling, out Of the dust and ele-
ments, of the separate constituents OF
the body on q final resurrection day
was obviously the idea Of man who
knew nothing Of modern physiology,
which shows that the human body Is
completely renewed about every seven
years. Which body is to be raised from
the dead-that Of the child or the old
man? he asked.
He referred to the Bible as a collec-
ton Of miscellaneous books Of history,
philosophy, primitive science and poetry
written by diverse minds over thou
sand years and necessarily fun OF con-
tradictions. In the same volume, he
said, belief Is expressed in immortality
and in the absolute end Of the tndi-
vidual with death.
Ridiculous Stories.
The most ridiculous of the Biblical
stories, he said, still are accepted lit
orally by many thousands Of members
Of the Christian churches In the North
and almost universally in the South.
He ridicules especially the story OF
Balaams ass who spoke in Hebrew and
of Joshua making the sun stand still
obviously the idea, he said, of a man
who knew nothing Of the scheme OF the
universe.
Turning to the New Testament, he
declared that this corner stone Of
Christian faith rested on the story OF .
such miraculous births being rather
common In the civilized world around
the Mediterranean at that time. Both
Julius Caesar and Cicero, he pointed
out, had been credited with miraculous
birth"
He especially ridiculed the story Of
the star of Bethlehem who led the
wise men of the East to the manger
and finally stood still over the build
ing--a story, he said, which no man
would have thought Of putting on paper
after the day Of Newton. How was it
possible to tell, he asked, over which
building in a city a star countless mil
lions of miles away in space stood?
And If such an event had happened, he
declared, neither the wise men nor the
miraculous child nor the solar system
itself would have been left alive to tell
about 1t.
Must Have Truth.
DR.. Pierce declared that he could
laugh sincerely at all the cases of
inconsistency IN the Bible found by
Mr.. Darrow, but still retain his Prot
estant faith. The agnostic, he de-
clared. coming anew in every genera
ton and applying the test of facts and
logic relentlessly to faith, had rendered
q great service in the development of
religion. But in the final analysis, he
said, the unbeliever has only negation
to offer whereas the role Of religion Is
to relieve the distress of the world and
promote national, racial and economic
justice.
The world" he said, sis not going
to be redeemed by negatives. We must
have the truth, but We must also have
the great, positive affirmations of faith"
Even II one admitted Mr.. Darrow's
contention that man Is only a mocha
nism and the helpless plaything Of bio
logical forces, DR. Pierce said, 1t must
est factors in the environment which
determines the working Of that mocha
nism is religion.
He insisted that Mr.. Darrow was es-
sentially religious man at heart. But,