Sc ience and the Bible by Bolton Davidheiser Chairman, Science Division Biola College (
THE SCOPES T R IA L
VALUABLE WALL CHART
T h e S c o p e s T r i a l is in the news again, with a Tennessee biology- teacher offering to go on trial to test the law which prohibits the teaching of evolution in the public schools of the state. In California a case is pend ing which, if successful, will prohibit the teaching of evolution as a fact in the public schools. As this case gains publicity, its opponents will no doubt have much to say about the Scopes Trial. In 1925 John Thomas Scopes was arrested in Dayton, Tennessee, for teaching evolution in the local high school. Articles about this usually present him as a martyr and unfor tunate victim of an unjust law. This is not the case, for he was arrested with his own consent. Ray Ginger says that Scopes later admitted that he was worried throughout the trial that he might be called to the stand, because under oath he would have had to admit that he had never taught evolution. The whole affair was engineered by the American Civil Liberties Union from its office in New York City. The outstanding figures at the trial were William Jennings Bryan, who opposed the teaching of evolution, and Clarence Darrow, who favored it. The issue was this: Did Scopes break the law? He was found guilty, and it has been said ever since that Darrow lost the case but won the cause because, it is said, the anti evolutionists were so soundly defeat ed that there has not been any intel ligent opposition to the theory of evo lution since that time. Darrow bluffed his way and had no regard for what people would think of his tactics. In an attempt to show how unreliable the Bible is he said: “Are your mathematics good? Turn to I Elijah 11. [There is no such passage in the Bible.] Is your philosophy good? See II Samuel 3. [This chapter is a historical account of some events during the time 'of David.] Is your astronomy good? See Genesis chapter 2 verse 7. [This verse is about the creation of man and has nothing to do with astron omy.] Is your chemistry good? See— well, chemistry, see Deuteronomy 3:6 or anything that tells about brim stone. [This verse has nothing to do
with chemistry or brimstone.]” Ray Ginger, who strongly favors Darrow and his cause, says of this, “Of course the references were hasty frauds, but serviceable enough.” As an expert witness on the theory of evolution, Professor Maynard Met calfe was called to the stand. Twice he spoke of embryonic development of an individual from an egg as evo lution. One of Darrow’s lawyers took this up and said that since evolution never stops from the time a human being is a single cell until the end of his life, it would be impossible to have medical schools without the teaching of evolution. William Jen nings Bryan pointed out that this was irrelevant, and the judge asked Mr. Darrow whether he was arguing about embryonic development or the development of higher forms of life from simpler. He admitted it was the latter. In a statement read into the court record, Professor H. H. Newman said that evolution is merely the philoso phy of change. This line has been followed in some textbooks, and now it is being given to the Christian public by Christian men who have a reputation as conservative and ortho dox. It is said that now one cannot help accepting a certain amount of evolution, for any hereditary change is evolution. Professor Newman went on to say that identical twins are more alike than are brothers and sisters which are not identical twins, and these in turn tend to be more alike than cousins. Members of a family have more genetic material in common, and so are more alike, than people of different families. Individ uals of the same race tend to be more alike than people of different races. He then said that if one admits this, there is no stopping place and “it is logically impossible to draw the line at any level of organic classification.” In other words, this learned mein said that if you have noticed that brothers are related but that they are not as much alike as identical twins, to be logical you must also admit that a peacock and an alligator are related, and so are a jellyfish and an elephant. Continued next month.
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AUGUST, 1963
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