Answering Darrow : What William Jennings Bryan Should Have Said

By Brian Vermeer

Many Christians say they believe the Bible to be inerrant and infallible, but do they really believe what they say? During the famous Scopes "Monkey" Trial of 1925, Defense attorney Clarence Darrow questioned Prosecutor William Jennings Bryan on this very topic. Quoting specific difficult passages from the Bible, Darrow asked Bryan if he believed them to be literally true and why. Unfortunately, Bryan's responses showed his real ignorance of some of these passages and how there are easy explanations to them. In this book, using the transcript of the interrogation, I comment on the questions and answers and give my opinions as both a Christian and scientist on Darrow's questions and Bryan's responses.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brian Vermeer
• Release date: Nov 19, 2013
• ISBN: 9781310857348

Brian Vermeer

I was born in 1968 and born again in 1978. In addition to my apologetic ministry, I have served in the church as a Sunday School teacher for over twenty years. I have also served as an usher, choir member and have sung in a southern gospel quartet. I have also taken two mission trips to Guatemala where I worked in a pharmacy of a village hospital. Outside the church, I hold a BS in physics with a math minor from an accredited university and an Arkansas teaching certificate in Physics and Physical Science with an approval in Chemistry and Principles of Technology. I taught high school and college level Physics and Chemistry courses in Arkansas Public Schools for 17 years. I have also taught high school courses in astronomy, biology, environmental science and study skills. I am a member of American Mensa, Ltd. and have twice passed the qualification test to appear on Jeopardy. In spite of this my intelligence has been questioned because I believe in a literal six-day creation. I have been happily married to the same wonderful woman since 1996 and am the proud father of a little girl and caretaker of a hyperactive dachshund.

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Answering Darrow

How William Jennings Bryan Should Have Responded

By Brian Vermeer

Copyright 2013 Brian Vermeer

Smashwords Edition

One of the most famous trials in American history is the case of State vs. John T. Scopes in 1925. The trial was set up by the ACLU to challenge the constitutionality of Tennessee’s Butler Act which forbade teaching any theory of the origin of man in a public science classroom except the account given in the Bible. Scopes was arrested for allegedly teaching evolution in class, although he later admitted that he never did teach it as he was just filling in for the regular biology teacher and was simply reviewing the students for their final exams.

The case quickly turned into a public spectacle. Famed agnostic attorney Clarence Darrow took up the defense while noted Christian William Jennings Bryan counseled the prosecution. Darrow successfully turned the trial into a case of evolution versus creation and even science versus the Bible in an attempt to show that no educated person seriously believed the Biblical creation account anymore. Toward the end of the trial, Darrow called Bryan to the stand as a Biblical expert to try to show the unreliability of the Bible as a book about science. (It is interesting to note that the next day, the trial ended when Darrow asked the jury to find the defendant guilty instead of allowing himself to be questioned by Bryan on the reliability of evolution as had been previously agreed.)

While Bryan attempted to answer Darrow’s objections to the Bible, he came across as one had done very little deep study and had not considered the so-called ‘difficulties’ of the Bible. His answers to some inquiries were simply along the lines of The Bible says it; I believe it, that settles it. While this kind of faith is good for some people and is certainly better than no faith, it fails to impress the skeptic who has serious questions about the veracity of the scripture. In this book, I will look at the questions raised by Darrow and give what, in my opinion, are the answers Bryan should have given to the objections.

In the text below, the italicized words come from the transcript of the case. The non-italicized words are my critique.

[Examination of W.J. Bryan by Clarence Darrow, of counsel for the defense:]

DARROW--You have given considerable study to the Bible, haven't you,