IS IT THE TRUTH
Jack L. Holt
Campaigns are being waged all about us nowadays for truth in lending and truth
in packaging. One civic organization has put out thousands of bumper stickers
with the simple question, "Is it the truth?" The credibility gap is deplored.
The truth is not always easy to come by. It takes effort to verify your
information. It's always easier to pass along to others what you read or hear
without taking the time and effort to check it out. A good reporter never
assumes a report or article is true. He takes time to check it our. If this
course were followed by all writers, a number of half truths, slanted articles
and unconfirmed reports would never see the light of print.
A case in point is an article now making the rounds of the bulletins. The
article is credited to Harold Hill, President of the Curtis Engine Co., in
Baltimore, Maryland. The article tells about some computer men in our space
program feeding information into a computer so they could tell where the stars
would be years from now. Then if they sent up a satellite they would avoid a
space crash. Well, in the process they found a day missing in "elapsed time."
They went almost berserk trying to figure out until some "religious fellow" told
them about Joshua's long day.
Well sir, they fed this information into the computer and they found that
Joshua's statement, "About a whole day," meant exactly 23 hours and 20 minutes.
What they fed this machine to get the definite figure on about," I don't know.
But anyway they came up forty minutes shore in the day missing. This same
"religious fellow," then recalled the sundial going backwards ten degrees for
Hezekiah. Ten degrees is 40 minutes, and this fit in with "about," to make one
day exactly. The computer then spit out the information fed it and confirmed
Joshua's story of the long day. When I first read Hill's story it rang a bell.
I'd heard it before. I walked over to a bookshelf and pulled out Rimmer's book,
"The Harmony of Science and Scripture." In the chapter, "Modern Science And The
Long Day of Joshua," you'll find the same story, even to the degrees on the
sundial (Pgs. 280-283). Hill's article updates Rimmer's story to fit the
computer age.
After reading Hill's article I decided to check it out. There were a number of
things I wanted to know. For example, how could they know a day was missing in
time without knowing when time began? How old is time? This information would
solve some problems in Bible chronology. Also I'd like to know how they could be
so exact about the expression "about a whole day." I need to know how to define
"about" so when my wife tells me a new dress will cost "about" so much I'll
immediately know the exact price. Or when a woman tells you she'll be ready in
"about 15 minutes," you can know that "about" is two or three hours give or take
a few minutes.
Anyway, I wrote Hill % Curtis Engine Company, Baltimore, Maryland. My letter
came back with the post office notation, "There is no such company in
Baltimore." I then wrote "The Evening World," a newspaper in Spencer, Indiana,
where the article first (?) appeared asking for information about it. I haven['s
received a reply. The whole thing began to look real fishy. Now I admit in times
past I've been real gullible. I believed George Washington threw a silver dollar
across the Potomac. They cherry tree story still thrills me. And I won't tell
you haw old I was when I learned Santa really isn't. I'll just say my children
broke the news to me. This modern generation learns fast! I've fallen for more
lines that a rich old maid, but this story didn't move me one bit.
All of this reminds me of some checking I did years ago when the New Testament
of the Revised Standard Version, was published. Many preachers were hurling fire
and brimstone at the "New Version," and rightly so in some respects. I thought I
should join the crowd and "smite them hip and thigh." I began looking for
information on the Version. One day I saw and bought a copy of Dan Gilbert's
debate with a Professor Stevenson(?). It bore the title, "The Debate Over the
New Bible."
The book represented Stevenson as one of the translators on the Revised Standard
Version committee. In the book, Stevenson blatantly denied the Virgin Birth,
blood atonement and many other fundamental truths of the Scriptures. Gilbert
valiantly defended the truth and showed Stevenson was typical of the translators
and thus shut up the whole group as perverters and rank modernists bent on
destroying the Scriptures. Well, I was looking for information and here it was
-- if it were true!
However, before I used the book I thought I'd better check and see if the other
translators went along with Stevenson. I wrote Goodspeed, Cadbury, Weigle and
others. They answered my letters and to my surprise told me they'd never heard
of Professor Stevenson; that he didn't serve on the committee for the Revised
Standard Version, and some said they didn't believe as Stevenson whoever and
wherever he was.
Goodspeed was rather whimsical in part of his reply. He said, in effect (I'm
writing this away from the book as well as the letters so I can't be exact) "I
know nothing about Professor Stevenson. I've tried to find him and can't. I've
tries to call Gilbert at his home, but his wife always answers the phone and
tells me she doesn't know where he is, except he's away preaching to prisoners.
If you can help us find Stevenson we'd be grateful. Mr. Gilbert is in danger of
Rev. 21:27, "Whosoever . . . maketh a lie."
That checking sure cost me some preaching, but it saved me from
misrepresentation. The word of God, or His cause doesn't need make up yarns,
slanted truths, misrepresentations, nor straw men to fight to establish its
superior morality or its truthfulness.
These facts about Hill's article should serve a good purpose. It ought to teach
us to verify our information before we print it. Then we can tell it like it is,
not like we might wish it to be. Brethren it doesn't take too long to "prove all
things." This might cost us some two-bit preaching material, but it'll save us
from misrepresentation and half truths.
And should many brethren have checked before they printed made up articles based
on half-truths they would have looked in Webster's New World Dictionary, College
Edition (the latest) and seen the word "gee" has a legitimate usage and is
defined as "an exclamation of surprise," but you'll never see this in some
bulletins. Very few will present all the facts. They don't want the facts to get
in the way of their preaching.
It would do all of us good before be print and article to ask, "Is it the
truth?" And since we bear the name of Christ we should want the truth' ALL of
the truth, and nothing but the truth."
So concerning Hill's story just call me "Thomas," until someone shows me the "nailprints
in its hands."
Richardson, Texas