Y. M. C. A.

At a meeting of the Young Men's Christian Association held last evening in Holden Chapel the following officers were elected to serve for the next half year:- President, E. K. Rand, '94; Vice-President, E. H. Abbott, '93; Secretary. C. E. Noyes, '95; and Treasurer, W. N. Van Kleek, '95.

After the election, Professor George Harris, of Andover, spoke on Changed Theories of the Inspiration of the Bible

The earliest writing of the Old Testament only goes back till the time of Moses, although many of the traditions were earlier than his time. The first five books of the Old Testament were revised by the hands of many editors, so that at the present time they are considerably changed from what they were when written. The books of Kings and Chronicles have undergone the same missions, but not so with the books of the Prophets which always have been, and still are, monographs. The character of the New Testament is very different from that of the old, owing to the fact that it was written in a space of 50 years, and thus belonged to one literary period.

A theory which has wide currency in the Christian Church is that the Bible stands apart from all other literary productions both in origination and accuracy; that all writers were preserved under the spirit of God from falling into mistakes. But with the advance of knowledge doubts arose as to whether the Bible was absolutely free from error. There is no thing in the Bible itself to lead us to adopt such a theory. "That all Scriptures are inspired", as Pauls says does not mean that the Bible is perfectly accurate. It only means that the truth is given out under the spirit of God and not that it is free from mistake.

The authority of the Bible is the authority of its truth as we apprehend it, and not the authority of accuracy alone. There is a broad distinction between these theories. The old theory is that the books themselves were inspired but the new theory teaches that men were inspired who led religious lives, taught Christianity and who incidentally wrote the books.