Show AS ABBOTT SEES THE BIBLE distinguished clergyman refuses to declare book Is inerrant and infallible I 1 do not believe that the dible bible la is inerrant and infallible it never claims tor for itself to be inerrant and in fallible and I 1 decline to claim tor for it what it does not claim for itself one of my correspondents asks me cheth er we shall teach our children that the bible Is like the arabian nights my answer is we should teach our children that the bible Is a collection of literature which contains some his tory some law some poetry and drama fiction we should teach our children the difference between fact and truth and enable them to see clearly that fiction may be and often Is as valuable a vehicle for truth as tact fact thus as the value of the story of 0 the prodigal son does not depend upon the question whether there ever were such a father and two such boys so the value of the story of the garden of eden does not depend upon the question whether there ever was a tree the fruit of which would give knowledge of good and evil or a talking serpent tempting a woman the real value of the book of 0 jonah has been almost wholly lost to most readers in the hot debate of the ques tion whether a whale can swallow a manfrom man from an in the out look by lyman abbott |