“Judaism is a way of life disciplined by moral law and transfused by a consciousness of God. Judaism is law plus faith. It is expressed in law when law is required. At another time it is expressed in faith when the situation calls for faith, and at still other times it is expressed in knowledge, wisdom and research.”
These were among the remarks of Rabbi Samuel H. Goldenson, spiritual leader of Temple Rodef Shalom here, who upheld the Jewish viewpoint in a four-cornered discussion last night before approximately 2,500 persons who packed Carnegie Music Hall to hear a Catholic, Jew, Protestant and Agnostic defend their beliefs. In addition to Rabbi Goldenson, other speakers were Clarence Darrow, noted criminal lawyer of Chicago, who is an avowed agnostic; Dr. Albert E. Day, pastor of the Christ Methodist Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh, who told “Why I am a Protestant”; and Quin O’Brien, nationally noted Catholic layman, attorney and Knights of Columbus leader. James Rae, president of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, presided.
Darrow, the last speaker, attacked the faith of those who preceded him, singled out the belief in the virgin birth of Christ as a particular target, declared the fear of God was not the end of wisdom and emphasized that he believed in neither God nor soul, at the same time calling on those who had certain religious beliefs to come out with actual reasons and proof for them.
Dr. Day sketched his viewpoint of a responsive, personal universe, stating that this universe was his God, but that God transcended his universe. He liked Protestantism, he said, for its democracy, for its acceptance of realities, and for its approach to his own personal problems.
Attorney O’Brien, who was the first speaker on the program, enumerated what the world owes to the Catholic Church—Sunday, Christmas, Easter, the elevation of workers from serfdom to freedom, loyalty to Divinity at all times. “Where agnosticism strikes, chaos follows,” he said.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
