extremely THOUGHTFUL AND INTERESTING!
"Neither is it by any means certain that Jonah was in the
belly of this whale. "He probably stayed in his mouth." Even if he
was in his stomach, it was very easy for him to defy the ordinary
action of gastric juice by rapidly walking up and down."
THE TALMAGIAN CATECHISM.
ANSWER. If you take this away from us, what do you propose to
give us in its place? Some of the best people of the world have
believed this story. Kind husbands, loving mothers, and earnest
patriots have believed it, and that is sufficient.
QUESTION. At the time God made these people, did he know that
he would have to drown them all?
ANSWER. Of course he did.
QUESTION. Did he know when he made them that they would all be
failures?
ANSWER. Of course.
QUESTION. Why, then, did he make them?
ANSWER. He made them for his own glory, and no man should
disgrace his parents by denying it.
QUESTION. Were the people after the flood just as bad as they
were before?
ANSWER. About the same.
QUESTION. Did they try to circumvent God?
ANSWER. They did.
QUESTION. How?
ANSWER. They got together for the purpose of building a tower,
the top of which should reach to heaven, so that they could laugh
at any future floods, and go to heaven at any time they desired.
QUESTION. Did God hear about this?
ANSWER. He did.
QUESTION.. What did he say?
ANSWER. He said: "Go to; let us go down," and see what the
people are doing; I am satisfied they will succeed.
QUESTION. How were the people prevented from succeeding?
ANSWER. God confounded their language, so that the mason on
top could not cry "mort'!" to the hod-carrier below; he could not
think of the word to use, to save his life, and the building
stopped.
QUESTION. If it had not been for the confusion of tongues at
Babel, do you really think that all the people in the world would
have spoken just the same language, and would have pronounced every
word precisely the same?
ANSWER. Of course.
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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THE TALMAGIAN CATECHISM.
QUESTION. If it had not been, then, for the confusion of
languages, spelling books, grammars and dictionaries would have
been useless?
ANSWER. I suppose so.
QUESTION. Do any two people in the whole world speak the same
language, now?
ANSWER. Of course they don't, and this is one of the great
evidences that God introduced confusion into the languages. Every
error in grammar, every mistake in spelling, every blunder in
pronunciation, proves the truth of the Babel story.
QUESTION. This being so, this miracle is the best attested of
all?
ANSWER. I suppose it is.
QUESTION. Do you not think that a confusion of tongues would
bring men together instead of separating them? Would not a man
unable to converse with his fellow feel weak instead of strong; and
would not people whose language had been confounded cling together
for mutual support?
ANSWER. According to nature, yes; according to theology, no;
and these questions must be answered according to theology. And
right here, it may he well enough to state, that in theology the
unnatural is the probable, and the impossible is what has always
happened. If theology were simply natural, anybody could be a
theologian.
QUESTION. Did God ever make any other special efforts to
convert the people, or to reform the world?
ANSWER. Yes, he destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
with a storm of fire and brimstone.
QUESTION. Do you suppose it was really brimstone?
ANSWER. Undoubtedly.
QUESTION. Do you think this brimstone came from the clouds?
ANSWER. Let me tell you that you have no right to examine the
Bible in the light of what people are pleased to call "science."
The natural has nothing to do with the supernatural. Naturally
there would he no brimstone in the clouds, but supernaturally there
might be. God could make brimstone out of his "omnipotence." We do
not know really what brimstone is, and nobody knows exactly how
brimstone is made. As a matter of fact, all the brimstone in the
world might have fallen at that time.
QUESTION. Do you think that Lot's wife was changed into salt?
ANSWER. Of course she was. A miracle was performed. A few
centuries ago, the statue of salt made by changing Lot's wife into
that article, was standing. Christian travelers have seen it.
Bank of Wisdom
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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THE TALMAGIAN CATECHISM.
QUESTION. Why do you think she was changed into salt?
ANSWER. For the purpose of keeping the event fresh in the
minds of men.
QUESTION. God having failed to keep people innocent in a
garden; having failed to govern them outside of a garden; having
failed to reform them by water; having failed to produce any good
result by a confusion of tongues; having failed to reform them with
fire and brimstone, what did he then do?
ANSWER. He concluded that he had no time to waste on them all,
but that he would have to select one tribe, and turn his entire
attention to just a few folk.
QUESTION. Whom did he select?
ANSWER. A man by the name of Abram.
QUESTION. What kind of man was Abram?
ANSWER. If you wish to know, read the twelfth chapter of
Genesis; and if you still have any doubt. as to his character, read
the twentieth chapter of the same book, and you will see that he
was a man who made merchandise of his wife's body. He had had such
good fortune in Egypt, that he tried the experiment again on
Abimelech.
QUESTION. Did Abraham show any gratitude?
ANSWER. yes; he offered to sacrifice his son, to show his
confidence in Jehovah.
QUESTION. What became of Abraham and his people?
ANSWER. God took such care of them, that in about two hundred
and fifteen years they were all slaves in the land of Egypt.
QUESTION. How long did they remain in slavery?
ANSWER. Two hundred and fifteen years.
QUESTION. Were they the same people that God had promised to
take care of?
ANSWER. They were.
QUESTION. Was God. at that time, in favor of slavery?
ANSWER. Not at that time. He was angry at the Egyptians for
enslaving the Jews. but he afterwards authorized the Jews to
enslave other people.
QUESTION. What means did he take to liberate the Jews?
ANSWER. He sent his agents to Pharaoh, and demanded their
freedom; and upon Pharaoh's refusing, he afflicted the people. who
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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THE TALMAGIAN CATECHISM.
had nothing to do with it with various plagues, -- killed children,
and tormented and tortured beasts.
QUESTION. Was such conduct Godlike?
ANSWER. Certainly. If you have anything against your neighbor,
it is perfectly proper to torture his horse, or torment his dog.
Nothing can be nobler than this. You see it is much better to
injure his animals than to injure him. To punish animals for the
sins of their owners must be just, or God would not have done it.
Pharaoh insisted on keeping the people in slavery, and therefore
God covered the bodies of oxen and cows with boils. He also bruised
them to death with hailstones. From this we infer, that "the loving
kindness of God is over all his works."
QUESTION. Do you consider such treatment of animals consistent
with divine mercy?
ANSWER. Certainly. You know that under the Mosaic
dispensation, when a man did a wrong, he could settle with God by
killing an ox, or a sheep, or some doves. If the man failed to kill
them, of course God would kill them. It was upon this principle
that he destroyed the animals of the Egyptians. They had sinned,
and he merely took his pay.
QUESTION. How was it possible, under the old dispensation, to
please a being of infinite kindness?
ANSWER. All you had to do was to take an innocent animal,
bring it to the altar, cut its throat, and sprinkle the altar with
its blood. Certain parts of it were to be given to the butcher as
his share, and the rest was to be burnt on the altar. When God saw
an animal thus butchered, and smelt the warm blood mingled with the
odor of burning flesh, he was pacified, and the smile of
forgiveness shed its light upon his face. Of course, infidels laugh
at these things; but what can you expect of men who have not been
"born again"? "The carnal mind is enmity with God."
QUESTION. What else did God do in order to induce Pharaoh to
liberate the Jews?
ANSWER. He had his agents throw down a cane in the presence of
Pharaoh and thereupon Jehovah changed this cane into a serpent.
QUESTION. Did this convince Pharaoh?
ANSWER. No; he sent for his own magicians.
QUESTION. What did they do?
ANSWER. They threw down some canes and they also were changed
into serpents.
QUESTION. Did Jehovah change the canes of the Egyptian
magicians into snakes?
ANSWER. I suppose he did, as he is the only one capable of
performing such a miracle.
Bank of Wisdom
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
10
THE TALMAGIAN CATECHISM.
QUESTION. If the rod of Aaron was changed into a serpent in
order to convince Pharaoh that God had sent Aaron and Moses, why
did God change the sticks of the Egyptian magicians into serpents
-- why did he discredit his own agents, and render worthless their
only credentials?
ANSWER. Well, we cannot explain the conduct of Jehovah; we are
perfectly satisfied that it was for the best. Even in this age of
the world God allows infidels to overwhelm his chosen people with
arguments; he allows them to discover facts that his ministers can
not answer, and yet we are satisfied that in the end God will give
the victory to us. All these things are tests of faith. It is upon
this principle that God allows geology to laugh at Genesis, that.
he permits astronomy apparently to contradict his holy word.
QUESTION. What did God do with these people after Pharaoh
allowed them to go?
ANSWER. Finding that they were not fit to settle a new
country, owing to the fact that when hungry they longed for food,
and sometimes when their lips were cracked with thirst insisted on
having water, God in his infinite mercy had them marched round and
round, back and forth, through a barren wilderness, until all, with
the exception of two persons, died.
QUESTION. Why did he do this?
ANSWER. Because he had promised these people that he would
take them "to a land flowing with milk and honey."
QUESTION. Was God always patient and kind and merciful toward
his children while they were in the wilderness?
ANSWER. Yes, he always was merciful and kind and patient.
Infidels have taken the ground that he visited them with plagues
and disease and famine; that he had them bitten by serpents, and
now and then allowed the ground to swallow a few thousands of them,
and in other ways saw to it that they were kept as comfortable and
happy as was consistent with good government; but all these things
were for their good. and the fact is, infidels hare no real sense
of justice.
QUESTION. How did God happen to treat the Israelites in this
way, when he had promised Abraham that he would take care of his
progeny, and when he had promised the same to the poor wretches
while they were slaves in Egypt?
ANSWER. Because God is unchangeable in his nature, and wished
to convince them that every being should be perfectly faithful to
his promise.
QUESTION. Was God driven to madness by the conduct of his
chosen people?
ANSWER. Almost.
QUESTION. Did he know exactly what they would do when he chose
them?
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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THE TALMAGIAN CATECHISM.
ANSWER. Exactly.
QUESTION. Were the Jews guilty of idolatry?
ANSWER. They were. They worshiped other gods, gods made of
wood and stone.
QUESTION. Is it not wonderful that they were not convinced of
the power of God, by the many miracles wrought in Egypt and in the
wilderness?
ANSWER. Yes, it is very wonderful; but the Jews, who must have
seen bread rained from heaven; who saw water gush from the rocks
and follow them up hill and down; who noticed that their clothes
did not wear out, and did not even get shiny at the knees, while
the elbows defied the ravages of time, and their shoes remained
perfect for forty years; it is wonderful that when they saw the
ground open and swallow their comrades; when they saw God talking
face to face with Moses as a man talks with his friend; after they
saw the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, -- it is
absolutely astonishing that they had more faith in a golden calf
that they made themselves, than in Jehovah.
QUESTION. How is it that the Jews had no confidence in these
miracles?
ANSWER. Because they were there and saw them.
QUESTION. Do you think that it is necessary for us to believe
all the miracles of the Old Testament in order to be saved?
ANSWER. The Old Testament is the foundation of the New. If the
Old Testament is not inspired, then the New is of no value. If the
Old Testament is inspired, all the miracles are true, and we cannot
believe that God would allow any errors, or false statements, to
creep into an inspired volume, and to be perpetuated through all
these years.
QUESTION. Should we believe the miracles, whether they are
reasonable or not?
ANSWER. Certainly; if they were reasonable, they would not be
miracles. It is their unreasonableness that appeals to our
credulity and our faith.. It is impossible to have theological
faith in anything that can be demonstrated. It is the office of
faith to believe, not only without evidence, but in spite of
evidence. It is impossible for the carnal mind to believe that
Samson's muscle depended upon the length of his hair. "God has made
the wisdom of "this world foolishness." Neither can the unconverted
believe that Elijah stopped at a hotel kept by ravens. Neither can
they believe that a barrel would in and of itself produce meal, or
that an earthen pot could create oil. But to a Christian, in order
that a widow might feed a preacher, the truth of these stories is
perfectly apparent.
QUESTION. How should we regard the wonderful stories of the
Old Testament?
Bank of Wisdom
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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THE TALMAGIAN CATECHISM.
ANSWER. They should be looked upon as "types" and "symbols."
They all have a spiritual significance. The reason I believe the
story of Jonah is, that Jonah is a type of Christ.
QUESTION. Do you believe the story of Jonah to be a true
account of a literal fact?
ANSWER. Certainly. You must remember that Jonah was not
swallowed by a whale. God "prepared a great fish" for that
occasion. Neither is it by any means certain that Jonah was in the
belly of this whale. "He probably stayed in his mouth." Even if he
was in his stomach, it was very easy for him to defy the ordinary
action of gastric juice by rapidly walking up and down. |
