Since the beginning of history, mankind has questioned its existence. How did life start? When did life start? Over the centuries, two schools of thought arose, presenting different ideas on the creation of mankind. Evolution and religion both presented ways mankind could have been created, however, a compromise couldn’t be made between the two due to their radically different natures. In Inherit the Wind, by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, Bert Cates, a science teacher, is on trial for teaching evolution in the highly religious town of Hillsboro. Henry Drummond, a famous lawyer from Chicago, is sent to defend Cates in his trial. Through his intelligence, sarcasm, and skepticism, Henry Drummond turns the trial in Cates’ favor. Throughout
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This being said, Drummond makes the point that the literal interpretation of the Bible isn’t always concrete like Brady believes it is, therefore turning the case in Cates’ favor.
When discussing the first day of creation, Drummond asks about the specific duration of the first day. Brady, being a literal interpreter of the Bible, adamantly defines the duration to be just one day. Drummond then asks,
DRUMMOND. Isn’t it possible that first day was twenty-five hours long? There was no way to measure it, no way to tell! Could it have been twenty-five hours? Pause. The entire courtroom seems to lean forward. BRADY. Hesitates - then. It is . . . possible . . . (97)
By getting Brady to admit that the first day of creation could have been longer than twenty-four hours, Drummond opens up the possibility of the first day to be anywhere up to ten million years; the amount of time scientists believe evolution took. Through establishing the indeterminate length of the first day of creation, Drummond shifts the case in Cates’ favor. As a skeptic, Drummond opposes the literal interpretation of the Bible and uncovers the flaws of this kind of interpretation, thus turning the case in Cates’
This being said, Drummond makes the point that the literal interpretation of the Bible isn’t always concrete like Brady believes it is, therefore turning the case in Cates’ favor.
When discussing the first day of creation, Drummond asks about the specific duration of the first day. Brady, being a literal interpreter of the Bible, adamantly defines the duration to be just one day. Drummond then asks,
DRUMMOND. Isn’t it possible that first day was twenty-five hours long? There was no way to measure it, no way to tell! Could it have been twenty-five hours? Pause. The entire courtroom seems to lean forward. BRADY. Hesitates - then. It is . . . possible . . . (97)
By getting Brady to admit that the first day of creation could have been longer than twenty-four hours, Drummond opens up the possibility of the first day to be anywhere up to ten million years; the amount of time scientists believe evolution took. Through establishing the indeterminate length of the first day of creation, Drummond shifts the case in Cates’ favor. As a skeptic, Drummond opposes the literal interpretation of the Bible and uncovers the flaws of this kind of interpretation, thus turning the case in Cates’