Dr. Bland, Bishop Cannon Disagree Over Old Testament, July 22, 1923

Dr. Bland Given Token of Thanks. . . Young People at Junaluska Present Speaker With Flowers After Lecture

By the Associated Press

Lake Junaluska, N.C., July 1—After his final lecture before the southern assembly here on the “great and permanent value of the Old Testament,” Dr. S.C. Bland of Toronto was thanked by the chairman of the Young People’s group and presented with flowers.

Bishop James Cannon Jr. of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, one of the commissioners of the southern assembly, stated, however, that while he believed in a thorough study of the Bible, he doubted the wisdom of such a course of lectures in the assembly auditorium and said that had he known the character of the lectures in advance, he would have objected. He added that the assembly was not responsible for any lecturer appearing under the auspices of any general board of the church.

Dr. Bland, who has been delivering lectures on the Old Testament under the auspices of the general Sunday school board of the Southern Methodist church, set forth as fact that the Old Testament scriptures are not all authoritative but were freely revised and set aside by Jesus and Paul and the unknown writer to Hebrews but said they deserve reverent study as they were the Bible of Jesus and that it was difficult to see how he could be understood without them.

In thanking Dr. Bland the young people’s chairman said he had helped them solve some of their intellectual problems and made it easier for them to believe Jesus Christ and to discover Christ for themselves. Bishop Cannon, in his remarks, objecting to delivery of the lectures in the assembly, said he believed such subjects should be discussed under conditions permitting a full and fair statement of conservative scholars, where the emphasis on the conservate of views of Christ and Paul could be presented.

Bishop James Atkins, chairman of the assembly and president of the Sunday school board suggested that Bishop Cannon be given an opportunity to present the other side of the question on some open night in the near future.

From the front page of the Durham Morning Herald, Sunday, July 22, 1923