THE BIBLE.

Southland Times, Issue 20208, 20 June 1927, Page 11

THE BIBLE.

To the Editor. Sir,—I have read the correspondence on this subject which has been appearing in your columns during the last few days and 1 must confess that it is anything but edifying. It makes one sad to think that in this twentieth century of ours there are still people who cling tenaciously to such antiquated beliefs as the infallibility of the Bible, the historical verity of such Biblical stories as the Creation, the Bears and the Boys, Jonah and the Whale and so on. It is reireshmg, however, to find that at least one minister in our midst is doing his best to bring about a better state of affairs and is not afraid to give expression to his views from the pulpit. Of course, he need not expect to go unchallenged for the slow’ but progressive march of truth has been challenged at every step in the past. Mr. F. Sampson’s attempt to bolster up the historical verity of the old Hebrew story of the Bears and the Boys is truly pathetic. He would have us understood that the forty-two “little children,” as the authorised version has it, were really young men, but he fads to see that this does not make the story any more credible. What were all these young men doing while the bears went about their work of destruction ? Perhaps they were standing in a row patiently waiting their turn to be slaughtered! He deals at some length with the interpretation of the Hebrew word rendered “little, children” in the A.V. and evidently proves to his own satisfaction that it should be rendered “young men.” 1 have looked up Dr. Moffatt’s modern translation of the Bible and I find that the word is there translated “small boys” and, with all due deference to Mr. Sampson’s knowledge of the Hebrew tongue, I am prepared to accept Dr. Moffatt’s rendering as authoritative and final. The boys, we are told, mocked the prophet (Elisha) and called rude names after him as he passed by, which so annoyed him that he “turned back and looked at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord,” whereupon two she-bears came out of the wood and slaughtered forty-two of them. It was certainly very wrong on the part of the boys to act as they did, but did their offence merit such savage retaliation? And what is to be thought of the prophet for cursing a lot of thoughtless small boys and of a God who would honour his curses by slaughtering forty-two of them? I would rather turn atheist than believe in such a god. I wonder what Jesus Christ— He who said: “Suffer the little children to come unto Me”—would have to say in the matter? The story, of course, is simply one of the fireside tales of the ancient Hebrew people and the mystery is that it ever came to be interpreted in any other way. We, too, have our tales about bears and naughty children which we tell to our boys and girls by the fireside of a winter’s night with a merry twinkle in our eye. Quite a lot of wonder tales have gathered round the name of this old prophet. Here is another as related in the Bible:— “And Elisha died and they buried him And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. And it came to pass as they were burying a man, that behold they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood upon his feet.” Apparently God not only honoured his curses but endowed his bones with the power of raising the dead! On another occasion during his lifetime he caused an irun axe-head to swim on the surface of some water mto which it had fallen. On still another occasion he struck the Syrian army vzith blindness and afterwards restored their sight. A rather dangerous old man, this, to be at large in any community. But why insult our intelligence by asking us to accept such tales as historical fact ? No wonder the Bible is an unread book nowadays. If the Bible could emulate Balaam’s ass, well might it exclaim: “Save oh save me from my friends.” I did not hear Mr. Chisholm’s sermon, (indeed I have not heard any sermon for a long time) but, judging from your report of it, I think he is to be commended for his endeavours to clear away some of the intellectual cobwebs that have obscured the vision of Christendom for centuries.—l am, etc., CLARION..