Page:The World's Most Famous Court Trial - 1925.djvu/125

 biology, he was teaching evolution and that would be in violation of the law.

A—Yes, sir.

Q—What was the date of this conversation?

A—He came up while Mr. Rappleyea and I were discussing this, and then all three of us discussed it for some little time after the crowd scattered. It grew out of a conversation between Mr. Rappleyea and myself in regard to the law.

Q—He said he had taught it here in Rhea county?

A—Yes, sir.

Q—And said he had reviewed it somewhere about the twenty-first of April?

A—Somewhere along there in April, 1925.

Q—You say it was customary to review the books there at the defendant's school?

A—Yes, sir.

Q-—Did he say to you in reference to this book that he had taught that part that pertained to evolution?

A—Yes, sir.

Q—What did he say?

A—He admitted that he had taught that. He said that he couldn't teach the book without teaching that and he could no teach that without violating the statute.

Q—Did he say that it was unconstitutional?

A—He defended his course by saying that the statute was unconstitutional.

Q—He taught that in the high school here in Dayton?

A—Yes, sir.

Q—In Rhea county?

Q—Mr. White, I will ask you if this is the King James version of the Bible, and to file it as an exhibit to your testimony?

Mr. Hays—Do you mean to file that in evidence?

Gen. Stewart—We offer this in evidence, yes, sir, as explanatory of what the act relates to when it says "Bible."

Mr. Hays—What is the Bible? Different secassects [sic] of Christians disagree in their answers to this question. They agree that the Bible is the inspired word of God, that the Creator of the universe is its Author, and that it is a book of divine instruction as to the creation of man, his relation to, dependence and accountability to, God. The historical and literary features of the Bible are of the greatest value, but its distinctive feature is its claim to teach a system of religion revealed by direct inspiration from God. It bases its demand for the reverence and allegiance of mankind upon the direct authority of God Himself. The various Protestant sects of Christians use the King James version, published in London in 1611, while Catholics use the Douay version, of which the Old Testament was published by the English college at Douay, in France, in 1609, and the New Testament by the English college at Rheims in 1582, and these two versions are often called, respectively, the Protestant Bible and the Catholic Bible. The original manuscripts containing the inspired word of God, written in Hebrew, in AremaicAramaic [sic] and in Greek, have all been lost for many hundreds of years, and each of the Bibles mentioned is a translation, not of those manuscripsmanuscripts [sic], but of translations thereof into the Greek and Latin. The earliest copy of the Old Testament in Hebrew now in existence was made as late as the eleventh century, though there are partial copies made in the ninth and tententh [sic] centuries. The oldest knowknown [sic] Greek manuscripts of the Bible, except a few fragments, belong to the fourth and fifth centuries. Each party claims for its own version the most accurate presentation of the inspired word as delivered to mankind and contained in the original scriptures." Which version does the Tennessee legislature call for? Does it intend to distinguish between the different religious sects in passing this law? Does it mean the Protestant, the St. James version, rather than the Catholic or Douay Bible? They could be required to call some witness here to testify what the Bible is. The court says further: "The versions differ in many particu-