Sounds from Afar and Fiery Dragons. TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2370, 3 August 1899, Page 9

Sounds from Afar and Fiery Dragons. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, — In your issue of the 13th inst. appears a letter 1 from " A Banker," " Mr Rae^s Strictures." One of the3e, he says, is, "I am angry with the few religious remarks that ho concludes his letter with.' Far froni this being the case; this I have mentioned before. It was the oft-repeated warning of Hell to come that I only objected to, and 1 am pleased and gratified to find that my letters have been the means of erasing this objectionable passage. In the last few ai tides that gentleman has written, no mention has been made of that imaginary place. With respect to the augmented sound made by microphony, I have experimenied with three of various designs, and 'an expert in the telegraph office experimented with his but neither of us could get any such augmented sound as "A Banker" states he has lound. I may rejnark there are various hammers and anvils some of which emit quite a feeble sound when they are struck. 'lhe fossil monster that " A Banker " refers to may have attained the length and height he states. I am sorry I did not consult Geike's "Geology" before expressing e.n opinion. Divine Providence, he says, has wisely exterminated these monsters which menaced men, but left more terrible enemies behind. To my query, " Why does not Divine Providence also exterminate these terrible enemies? " "A Banker " makes no reply. Nor does he to my previous letter wherein I asked some simple questions. In that letter he merely refers to ruy objection to the " Devil going about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." He says his authority for his belief is foxind in the Bible, the inspired word of Almighty God. It seems it has not entered into "A Banker's " mind that many passages in the Bible are used figuratively, and certainly this is one of them; as I showed that the Devil would require to be omnipotent before he could tempt or roar at the same time in various places, the earth's diameter asunder. Here is another passage which " A Banker " has referred to — viz., Jonah ih the whale's belly. He says the account given is absolutely true, because it is stated so in the Holy Bible. This also must be taken figuratively. Jonah is said to have been swallowed up by a great fish or whale, as it is called, remaining inside alive for three days and nights, and then being vomited up still alive on dry land. The succession of miracles (if miracles are allowed) are so munerous in the man and in the fish, that if " A Ban--kei;^' reflects, he will see that the story has no fou^datieruinfact. Besides, a New Testament writer says: 1 ou«h M w*4 > _three nights and days in the belly of the fish, so slTSrl~tha^ssn oi man be thiee nights and days in the earth." N»w, tv* ate told that Jesus remained two nights and one day, aud a. few hours in other two days. So one of the statements cannot be true. It 13 related that a firm believer in the literal interpretation of every sentence, as they are inspired, he says, even to "the dotting of the i's and crossing of the t's, was asked if the Bible, instead of stating that a whale swallowed Jonah alleged that Jonah swallowed the whale, could he believe it? and his foolish answer was, "If the Bible stated so, I would believe it." It has been abundantly proved that there are " text worshippers," and that neither these texts nor the writers of them claim them to be infallible. The Rev. Dr Minot J. Savage says : " It is only a claim that other people have made that these writings are inspired. There is nothing that stands so much in the way of religious progress as this prevailing belief. Why? Demonstrate a truth ever so clearly, many will not accept it. Why? Because there happens to be a. text in the Bible which opposes it. We are told by some that every text found there is the word of God, and when He speaks to its in the nineteenth century, many dare not listen because the deliverance is not in accordance with some text handed down to us from two to three thousand years ago, uttered by some scribe who knew no better. Why is it a mark of infidelity to accept the teaching of Darwin? Because the man who compiled certain sentences in Genesis had not heard of what has been discovered during the present century. One text in the Old Testament has murdered many thousand innocent women, generally by burning them alive, because an anonymous Jew said, " Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." Only a little while ago the ministers and Churches of Scotland were fighting against the use of chloroform in some cases of child-birth. Why? Because some man wrote, "God has ordained that the pains of child-birth were to follow as a penalty for Eve eating the forbidden fruit." In the concluding portion of " A Banker's " last letter, another, what he calls Divine command, is ruthlessly broken by some playing golf on Sunday. He .must be aware that the seventh day of the week is the day. enjoined to be kept holy. If ho will read the passages again wherein this is mentioned, he will discover that on every Sunday (the day that has been changed without authority) he wilfully breaks it by doing many acts that are forbidden. For myself, I should like two Sundays in every week, and so would the golfers; and as they do not possess any of the many motives given for attending Divine service, "A Banker" should be a little more charitable, and not condemn them for making this a day of rest by not following their usual avocations. I must only remind "A Banker," as surely he knows, that there is nothing sacred in the first or seventh day of the week. Suppose he should visit us by way of America and return by way of India or Cape Horn, on his arrival in England, say, on a Sunday, he would find business in lull swing, all the shops and stores open, the wharves crowded with traffic, and no regard taken of what ho calls a holy day. — I an, etc., WILLIAM EAE. Greymouth, July 17. The Melbourne Ago foreshadows a great future ton Eisaciaktaodajr federation.