USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. INTERESTING DEBATE IS PRESENTED BY MINISTERS New Testament Is Discussed by Reverends Knight and Wyche in Giving Second of Their Series........Modernism vs. Fundamentalism. About 800 people gathered in the high school auditorium last night to hear the second of a series of four debates on modernism vs. fundamentalism, between Rev. Cyril Wyche and Rev. Charles S. Knight, and the discourses of the two pastors on the subject, "Resolved, That the New Testament is the inspired, infallible word of God," proved to be both spirited and interesting. Rev. Knight, pastor of the Grace Baptist church, argued the affirmative side of the question, and Rev. Wyche, pastor of the Unitarian church, the negative. They were introduced by Rev. Fred W. Morrlson, who acted as both chairman and timekeeper. Each speaker was allowed 45 minutes to present his discussion and 15 minutes for rebuttal argument. All four talks were well received, and the speakers equally shared much applause. In opening his talk, Rev. Knight said people for some time have been wondering what the fight between modernism and fundamentalism "was all about." He said that it was a fight, and that the fundamentalists were determined to "carry the fight to a finish, allowing no quarter." He stated that times have changed in that people are not such earnest churchgoers as in past years, but that "the Bible has not changed in the past 1800 years." SCORES YOUTH'S MORALS. Rev. Knight stated that modernism is being instilled in the schools, and gave the younger generation's morals have been greatly damaged through such teaching. He declared that "movies, jazz and dancing have a damnable effect on our youth, and the effect is the result of modernism." Dancing, he said, has a contaminating effect upon the students of the local high school. He said that the "crookedness" of parents is to blame in many instances, adding that "we cannot blame the children in such cases for the following of evolution and modernism damning our youth." The speaker quoted Biblical prophecies that, he said, have been fulfilled in such a way as to lead to the conclusions that the Bible is infallible. The world was, he declared, was a direct fulfillment of the prophecy in the Bible of "wars and rumors of wars." He made a strong appeal for peace in concluding his remarks. WYCHE GIVES CONTRADICTIONS' When Rev. Wyche took the floor he spoke briefly of the looseness of morals of modern youth, but said the teaching of contradictory things made conditions worse instead of better. "We cannot live today as 2000 years ago," he said, "we must live in an infinite universe, and the people must wake up." He declared that preachers are not going far enough in their teaching. He pointed out direct quotations of Jesus Christ, in the Hebrew language, and asked why the New Testament was originally written in Greek, when its characters spoke either Hebrew or a branch of the latter language. "Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were Jews--but why did they write the Bible in Greek?" he asked. He said that nothing was told of the deaths of the disciples, and that a period after their lives has been known as the "Dark Age," because so little has ever been learned about it. SAYS MANY GOSPELS LEFT OUT The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke were each compiled after the one preceding, he said, yet were contradictory on many points. In this connection Rev. Wyche stated that 67 gospels and letters were originally written but when the New Testament was arranged in 430 A. D., only 27 of them were used. "Authorities have done everything possible to bury the others ever since," he declared. Speaking of the New Testament being infallible, Rev. Wyche pointed out several passages from the scripture to show that it was not. In explaining accounts of the death of Judas he said that acts 1:15 tells of Judas throwing himself to the ground and of death being caused in that way. "Turning to Matthew 27:5," he said, "one finds that Judas went away and was hanged." "MAYBE ROPE BROKE" The debate was not without its humorous phases. In rebuttal, Rev. Knight said, "Maybe the rope broke and caused Judas' death." Rev. Wyche answered to this in his rebuttal by saying, "if the rope had broken Judas ought to have fallen feet first, where the Bible says he fell headlong." Rev. Wyche also explained that Luke 23:39-40 and Matthew 27:44 differ in telling of how the thieves on the cross accepted Jesus, and of how Matthew told of Jesus being born in a house, while Luke relates the birth taking place in a manger. The speaker also spoke of the story in Revelations of the second coning of Jesus Christ, saying that most of the story must be flatly denied when one considers the findings of science. He mentioned the war-like Jesus told of in these chapters, and then told of the tenderness and mercies of Jesus Christ as related in other chapters in the Bible. "If this war-like Christ is the Jesus Christ of the fundamentalist, I do not want their Jesus Christ for mine." he declared in concluding his arguments. KNIGHT GIVES REBUTTAL. Rev. Knight answered this in his rebuttal by saying that Jesus Christ was the kind man told of in various parts of the New Testament, but Christ was a man and should be expected to show his manhood in matters of injustice. In speaking of the birth of Christ he said, "Maybe Joseph took Mary to a house the day after the birth of Jesus." Rev. Knight made a spirited appeal for people to follow the teachings of the Bible in the manner in which it was written. The question of the morals of youth was again touched upon by Rev. Wyche in his rebuttal statements. He said that young people find such mistakes in the scriptures that he had attempted to show, often causing them to entirely disbelieve the Bible. "We cannot throw all religion overboard, but should sift out the facts," he said, urging that religion with the "facts sifted out" be used by the people and taught from the pulpits. FRIENDLINESS REIGNS Each speaker was very friendly to each other throughout the debate. The series was arranged, it was explained, in a spirit of friendliness, with the hope that frank and open discussions of these religious problems might clear up much of the misunderstanding which exists between the modernists and fundamentalists. The first debate was given two weeks ago on the subject of "Resolved, That the Old Testament Is the Inspired, Infallible Word of God." Rev. Morrison announced that the third of the series will take place in the high school on the evening of December 8, the subject to be "Resolved, That Jesus Christ Is the Son of God." Rev. Knight will again present the affirmative and Rev. Wyche the negative. ----