Mr. Bryan's Challenge to Materialists
By Ernest Lloyd
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN once challenged materialists and those opposed to the theory of divine inspiration of the Bible to show they were right by producing a book superior to that sacred volume. He said: "Atheists and materialists declare that the Bible is merely the work of man, and that it was written under the limitations that apply to human wisdom. Taking this position, they necessarily must contend that, unless man has degenerated in ability and declined in wisdom, he can produce a book equal to the Bible. Let them produce it." "Atheists and materialists have assailed the Bible at every point. They have been as bold as the prophets of Baal in defying the living God and in heaping contempt on the written Word. Why not challenge them to put their doctrines to the test? When Elijah was confronted by a group of scorners who mocked the Lord, he invited them to match the power of their god against the power of his, and he was willing to concede superiority to the one who could answer with fire." "Now, why not a Bible test? Let them collect the best of their school to be found among the graduates of universities, as many as they please, and from every land. Let the members of this selected group travel where they will, consult such libraries as they please. Let them glean in the fields of geology, botany, astronomy, and zoology, and then roam at will wherever science has opened a way. Let them use every instrumentality that is employed in modern civilization. And when they have exhausted every source, let them embody the results of their best intelligence in a book, and offer it to the world as a substitute for this Bible of ours." "They have prayed to their god to answer with fire—prayed to inanimate matter with an earnestness that is pathetic. They have employed, in the worship of blind force, a faith greater than faith requires. But their almighty is asleep." "But to the doubts and 'I don't know's' of the agnostic, the Christian, Bible in hand, answers, 'I believe.'" And to the world the Christian demonstrates the fact that no other book contains such power to change the human life for good as does the prayerful study of God's holy word. May we be always wise enough to treasure its acquaintance. Let us be sure that it is having its rightful place—the first place—in all our reading. Its influence will always make for righteousness.