QUESTION. Do you think that Jonah was really in the whale's
stomach?
ANSWER. My own opinion is that he stayed in his mouth. The
only objection to this theory is, that it is more reasonable than
the other and requires less faith. Nothing could be easier than for
God to make a fish large enough to furnish ample room for one
passenger in his mouth. I throw out this suggestion simply that you
may be able to answer the objections of infidels who are always
laughing at this story.
QUESTION. Do you really believe that Elijah went to heaven in
a chariot of fire, drawn by horses of fire?
ANSWER. Of course he did.
QUESTION. What was this miracle performed for?
ANSWER. To convince the people of the power of God.
QUESTION. Who saw the miracle?
ANSWER. Nobody but Elisha.
QUESTION. Was he convinced before that time?
ANSWER. Oh yes; he was one of God's prophets.
QUESTION. Suppose that in these days two men should leave a
town together, and after a while one of them should come back
having on the clothes of the other, and should account for the fact
that he had his friend's clothes by saying that while they were
going along the road together a chariot of fire came down from
heaven drawn by fiery steeds, and thereupon his friend got into the
carnage, threw him his clothes, and departed, -- would you believe
it?
ANSWER. Of course things like that don't happen in these days;
God does not have to rely on wonders now.
QUESTION. Do you mean that he performs no miracles at the
present day?
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THE TALMAGIAN CATECHISM.
ANSWER. We cannot say that he does not perform miracles now,
but we are not in position to call attention to any particular one.
Of course he supervises the affairs of nations and men and does
whatever in his judgment is necessary.
QUESTION. Do you think that Samson's strength depended on the
length of his hair?
ANSWER. The Bible so states, and the Bible is true. A
physiologist might say that a man could not use the muscle in his
hair for lifting purposes, but these same physiologists could not
tell you how you move a finger, nor how you lift a feather; still,
actuated by the pride of intellect, they insist that the length of
a man's hair could not determine his strength. God says it did; the
physiologist says that it did not; we can not hesitate whom to
believe. For the purpose of avoiding eternal agony I am willing to
believe anything; I am willing to say that strength depends upon
the length of hair, or faith upon the length of ears. I am
perfectly willing to believe that a man caught three hundred foxes,
and put fire brands between their tails; that he slew thousands
with a bone, and that he made a bee hive out of a lion. I will
believe, if necessary, that when this man's hair was short he
hardly had strength enough to stand, and that when it was long, he
could carry away the gates of a city, or overthrow a temple filled
with people. If the infidel is right, I will lose nothing by
believing, but if he is wrong, I shall gain an eternity of joy. If
God did not intend that we should believe these stories, he never
would have told them, and why should a man put his soul in peril by
trying to disprove one of the statements of the Lord?
QUESTION. Suppose it should turn out that some of these
miracles depend upon mistranslation of the original Hebrew, should
we still believe them?
ANSWER. The safe side is the best side. It is far better to
err on the side of belief, than on the side of infidelity. God does
not threaten anybody with eternal punishment for believing too
much. Danger lies on the side of investigation, on the side of
thought. The perfectly idiotic are absolutely safe. As they diverge
from that point, -- as they rise in the intellectual scale, as the
brain develops, as the faculties enlarge, the danger increases. I
know that some biblical students now take the ground that Samson
caught no foxes, -- that he only took sheaves of wheat that had
been already cut and bound, set them on fire, and threw them into
the grain still standing. If this is what he did, of course there
is nothing miraculous about it, and the value of the story is lost.
So, others contend that Elijah was not fed by the ravens, but by
the Arabs. They tell us that the Hebrew word standing for "Arab"
also stands for "bird," and that the word really means "migratory
-- going from place to place -- homeless." But I prefer the old
version. It certainly will do no harm to believe that ravens
brought bread and flesh to a prophet of God. Where they got their
bread and flesh, is none of my business; how they knew where the
prophet was, and recognized him; or how God talks to ravens, or how
he gave them directions, I have no right to inquire. I leave these
questions to the scientists. the blasphemers, and thinkers. There
are many people in the church anxious to get the miracles out of
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THE TALMAGIAN CATECHISM.
the Bible, and thousands, I have no doubt, would be greatly
gratified to learn that there is, in fact, nothing miraculous in
Scripture; but when you take away the miraculous, you take away the
supernatural; when you take away the supernatural, you destroy the
ministry; and when you take away the ministry, hundreds of
thousands of men will be left without employment.
QUESTION. Is it not wonderful that the Egyptians were not
converted by the miracles wrought in their country?
ANSWER. Yes, they all would have been, if God had not
purposely hardened their hearts to prevent it. Jehovah always took
great delight in furnishing the evidence, and then hardening the
man's heart so that he would not believe it. After all the miracles
that had been performed in Egypt, -- the most wonderful that were
ever done in any country, the Egyptians were as unbelieving as at
first; they pursued the Israelites, knowing that they were
protected by an infinite God, and failing to overwhelm them, came
back and worshiped their own false gods just as firmly as before.
All of which shows the unreasonableness of a Pagan, and the natural
depravity of human nature.
QUESTION. How did it happen that the Canaanites were never
convinced that the Jews were assisted by Jehovah?
ANSWER. They must have been an exceedingly brave people to
contend so many years with the chosen people of God.
Notwithstanding all their cities were burned time and time again;
notwithstanding all the men, women and children were put to the
edge of the sword; notwithstanding the taking of all their cattle
and sheep, they went right on fighting just as valiantly and
desperately as ever. Each one lost his life many times, and was
just as ready for the next conflict. My own opinion is, that God
kept them alive by raising them from the dead after each battle,
for the purpose of punishing the Jews. God used his enemies as
instruments for the civilization of the Jewish people. He did not
wish to convert them, because they would give him much more trouble
as Jews than they did as Canaanites. He had all the Jews he could
conveniently take care of. He found it much easier to kill a
hundred Canaanites than to civilize one Jew.
QUESTION. How do you account for the fact that the heathen
were not surprised at the stopping of the sun and moon?
ANSWER. They were so ignorant that they had not the slightest
conception of the real cause of the phenomenon. Had they known the
size of the earth, and the relation it sustained to the other
heavenly bodies; had they known the magnitude of the sun, and the
motion of the moon, they would, in all probability, have been as
greatly astonished as the Jews were; but being densely ignorant of
astronomy, it must have produced upon them not the slightest
impression. But we must remember that the sun and moon were not
stopped for the purpose of converting these people, but to give
Joshua more time to kill them. As soon as we see clearly the
purpose of Jehovah, we instantly perceive how admirable were the
means adopted. |
