Christian Internet Forum

Was William Jennings Bryan a Fool?

The name of William Jennings Bryan has been kicked around for years since his participation in the Scopes trial. He was made to look silly in the movie about the trial, "Inherit the Wind" (leave it to ultra liberal Hollywood). But was Bryan really the clown the media and entertainment fields made of him? The following is taken from the book "From Darwin to Design", by Dr. C.L. Cagan and Robert Hymers.

" William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) has been portrayed as a half-wit by the secular media for defending the Bible against evolution. But Bryan was no fool. He was the Democratic Party nominee for president in 1896, 1900, and 1908. And history shows that the first man he ran against, William McKinley, did not have Bryan's ability or character. Even Clarence Darrow, Bryan's antagonist in the Scopes Trial, admitted he had voted for him twice because of Bryan's progressive ideas in politics. President McKinley is hardly remembered today, while Bryan is discussed in every college classroom when the subjects of the gold standard or evolution are brought up.

Bryan was Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson from 1913 to 1915. He had the moral courage to resign rather than back the administration as it plunged our nation into World War 1, "the unfinished war," which history shows did not make "the world safe for democracy." Bryan had the foresight to see this error. America should have stayed out of World War 1 and let the European nations settle it themselves. World War 2 might never have occurred if Wilson had listened to Bryan. Bryan was right. Wilson was wrong.

Bryan's arguments on the subject of creation and evolution are solid and convincing. Those who have only been exposed to the scopes trial through the Hollywood propaganda film, "Inherit the Wind", should read the masterful arguments of this great American. Bryan said,

"There never was a time when we needed religion [i.e. Christianity] more than today. We need it in the world; we need it in this country. Look at the sin and crime in our own country...There are [thousands of] college men in our prisons; how much good has education done them? The country has spent its money to educate them, but their hearts went wrong, and their hearts took their brains with them. Brains that were trained for the good of the country were turned to the plunder of society and there is no hope unless we can get back to a religion that makes men believe in God and a future life and gives them a sense of responsibility. The world needs Christ."

The cold, lonely, meaningless society of our day proves that Bryan was right - and his opponents were wrong. Read the newspaper. One news event after the other shows that our society has gone wrong, and reveals that Bryan was one of the few men of his day with the insight to see that a belief in evolution would produce a world without love, without meaning - without God!

J. Gresham Machen (1881-1936) was a professor in Princeton Theological seminary for twenty-three years, and went on to found Westminster Theological Seminary in 1929. He voiced a profound thought in these words:

"Our salvation depends squarely upon history, the Bible contains that history, and unless that history is true the authority of the Bible is gone and we who have put our trust in the Bible are without hope."

Those who reject the message of the Bible have "no hope and [are] without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12). Without God there is no real help for mankind. "

By George Konig
4/27/2008
www.konig.org



Go to list of previous Commentaries

Copyright ©1999-2008 George Konig
www.konig.org

Christian poetry
• Thank you Lord
• My Psalm
• The Bible
• Witnessing for Jesus
• The Search
• The Crucifixion
• The Frustrated poet
• Fun City
• The Steel Mill
• Visit from a devil

About Jesus
• Early life
• 1st year of ministry
• 2nd year of ministry
• 3rd year of ministry
• The final months
• Persecution of Jesus
• Resurrection of Jesus

About Christianity
• What is the Bible?
• What is Christianity?
• Things Christians can do
• Taking the next step
• Salvation

Bible prophecies
• End time prophecies
• Prophecies fulfilled by Jesus' birth
• Fulfilled by Jesus' life
• Fulfilled by his crucifixion
• Others involving Jesus
• Fulfilled by Israel - part 1
• Fulfilled by Israel - part 2
• Fulfilled by Babylon
• Fulfilled by Tyre
• Fulfilled by Nineveh
• Fulfilled by other nations

Articles & Essays
• Abortion
• Hatred
• Bible history timeline
• Astrology
• List of all articles
• Commentaries

Other stuff
• Home Page
• About us
• Testimony
• Links to Christian sites
• Copyright policy