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When all the research has been done and all the heavy volumes have been written, the effort to denigrate the Bible will always remain pure speculation.
The unfortunate thing is that some unthinking people trip over the ill-used word scientific and accept conjecture for fact. They erroneously believe that an atheist is a man who has proved that there is no God. In reality, he is simply a man who refuses to believe in God.
Dan Q. Brown
Sandusky, Ohio
For man to question the authenticity of the Bible is comparable to ants pondering the structure of the pyramids and contemplating how to transport them from Egypt to Saudi Arabia!
Mrs. John Elliff
Webb City, Mo.
It was good to read that Jacob Preus has not yet determined the length of the creation days or the age of the earth.
Thus we in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod are left with liberty of interpretation in these two areas until he arrives at a decision.
(The Rev.) Arthur M. Weber
Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, N. Y.
Three cheers for Billy Graham and Jacob A.O. Preus. Not everyone in the institutional church has bowed the knee to Baal.
(The Rev.) Richard M. Morris
Parkway Church of God
Frederick, Md.
"How True Is the Bible?" was a well-balanced treatment of an important theme. I wish you had given some space to the query "How true is the New Testament picture of the Pharisees?" The holy season would have been a good time to set the record straight on the Pharisees, whose vilification in Christian holy writ constitutes one of the most heinous libels in history, as many Christian scholars are now attesting.
Rabbi Samuel M. Silver
Stamford, Conn.
One-Way Universe
The concept of an infinitely expanding universe [Dec. 30] is hardly philosophically disturbing. To the contrary, a cyclic universe, mechanistically doomed forever to repeat itself in entropic stroke and counterstroke is disturbing in its implications of the worth of human existence.
The great mystery of infinite expansion seems to allow hope for progress, human evolution and meaningful change. It is a concept which fits well with TIME'S Christmas evaluation of biblical criticism, for it is congruent with the existence of a great God who was, is, and always will be.
J. Scott Hauger
Chicago
"A terrible surprise" indeed! Under the old expanding-contracting theory, man could always look forward to a second chance in 30 billion years or so. Now, with a one-way street, perhaps we ought to do it right the first time.
Kenneth R. Ohm
Sheridan, Wyo.
McCall's "Third Force"
With the economy falling around our ears, the Administration amiably incompetent, and none of the possible Democratic presidential candidates catching fire, Governor Tom McCall's idea of a "third force" in American politics [Dec. 30] sounds appealing.
God knows the nation needs more basic change than either major party proposes. A generation of Government subordination to oil corporations has created a wasteful, vulnerable energy economy. The welfare handouts for agribusiness, known as the farm program, have increased both food prices and hunger. And so on.