STRATON PASSES BUCK TO HIS QUESTIONERS

Evolution was on the stand last night when Dr. John Roach Straton, prominent fundamentalist, addressed a large crowd in Peabody Hall. After a fair analysis of the arguments on both sides, the floor was thrown open to discussion. Dr. Straton was asked if he believed in God, how Noah got all the animals into the Ark, how he could reconcile the Copernican theory anl many others. Then he stepped forward and asked if he might put a few questions of his own.

How Many Believe in God?

"You have all been questioning me," he said, "Now I want to ask you a few things. How many of you prayed today?" About five hands went up. "How many of you have read the Bible?" About the same number responded. "How many believe in a living God?" Nearly one-fourth of the audience raised their hands. A few less declared that they believed that Jesus was the Son of God.

"Most of you come from Christian homes and yet very few of you have read the Bible. You put your time on Shakespeare and the philosophers, but you have no time for the Word of God. As for me, I take my stand on the teachings of the Bible as the absolute revelation of the living God.

Tell Us We Come From a Wiggle

In his attack on Evolution, Dr. Straton said: "Evolution is based on purely mechanical forces. It does not consider personality. The scientists do not know how the world began. They can only attribute it to blind chance. They will tell you that there came a green scum between the sea and shore of a newly-born world and that one day in that scum there was a wiggle. And we are descended from that wiggle. That most humorous book of all the humorous books of this century. Mr. Well's 'Outline of History', is based entirely on this absurd belief.

"The scientists are pagan and heathen minds trying to eliminate God from the Universe. Unless we are going to accept the teachings of the Bible we must believe that nothing made something out of nothing. And I for one cannot believe it.

No Missing Links and No Ape Man

"There are no missing links and no missing ape men", Dr. Straton continued. "Man never came from the Apes. The Word in the Bible is that all forms of life were fixed. Each form is to in- crease in its own sphere and according to its own laws."

When questioned as to how he knew there was a God, Dr. Straton replied, "Because I've met him". "And how can we meet him?" the questioner next demanded. "By repenting of your sins and accepting Jesus in your life", he answered: When asked for a more definite proof, he said, "Wherever there is harmony, there is design. And we may go a step further and say that wherever there is design, there is mind and behind mind there is personality. Therefore, God either is Mind or He has Mind.