Today on Celebrate the Bible:
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It has been a quick 100 years. In 1925, newspapers and radio stations once covered what was then known as the Scopes Monkey Trial.
In fact, it was the first live radio broadcast of a trial in American history. Keep in mind that in 1925, radio was a relatively new innovation. It created quite the curious sensation in the town of Dayton, Tennessee. And, sadly to say, the live broadcast was not recorded.
Now if you have never heard of the Scopes Monkey Trial, you may hear of it soon. 2025 marks the 100th anniversary. It is the centennial celebration of what was to become known as the “trial of the century”.
Looking back at the trial, most modern-day recollections center around it being a battle between Biblical Creation versus Darwinian evolution. But as far as the trial itself is concerned, that wasn’t the case at all.
That isn’t to say that it wasn’t turned into a battle.
From a purely legal standpoint, the trial focused on whether John Scopes violated the Butler Act. He was a local Dayton Tennessee science and math teacher. The Butler Act was a recently signed law in the State of Tennessee.
What is the Butler Act?
The Butler Act of 1925 prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools throughout the state. It was the first law of its kind in the United States.
The trial outcome strictly reflected whether John Scopes violated the Butler Act. It was not about whether Creation or evolution was correct.
The verdict passed down from the jury said that John Scopes did indeed violate the Butler Act.
The Butler Act was based on the standing of the Holy Bible, and the protection of biblical-based creation. To truly understand the Scopes Trial, we must understand the Butler Act itself.
Fortunately, I have a newspaper in my collection that holds a front-page article. The law was signed on March 23, 1925, and the article was published on March 24.
For this broadcast, I would now like read the article to you.
I will include photos. There will also be other pieces of Monkey Trial memorabilia and ephemera. These items are taken from my own American Bible history collection.
If you are listening to this as a podcast, and you would like to view the photos included in this episode, please go to celebratethebible250.com, and look for episode #7
As follows (from 100 years ago):
Nashville, Tenn; March 23 — Enactment of a law to prohibit the teaching of the theory of evolution in State-supported schools of Tennessee was completed today with the signing of the measure by Governor Austin Peay. The Governor, quoting from the Federal Constitution “that all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience,” said in a statement that the bill was a “distinct protest against an irreligious tendency to exalt so-called science and deny the Bible in some schools and quarters.”
“Nobody will deny that the Holy Bible teaches that man was created by God in His own image.” the Governor continued. “This bill is founded on the idea and belief that the very integrity of the Bible in its statement of man’s divine creation is denied by any theory that man descended or had ascended from any lower order of animals. That such theory is at utter variance with the Bible story of man’s creation is incapable of successful contradiction.”
Governor Peay pointed out that the bill does not require that any particular theory or interpretation of the Bible regarding man’s creation be taught and does no more, in fact, than provide that the integrity of the Bible “be not negatived in the minds of children.”
The anti-evolution bill provides:
“That it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the universities, normal and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State to teach any theory that denies the story of the divine creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach, instead, that man has descended from a lower order of animals.”
“This bill,” Governor Peay says, “is a distinct protest against an irreligious tendency to exalt so-called science and deny the Bible in some schools and quarters — a tendency fundamentally wrong and fatally mischievous in the effects on our children, our institutions and country.
“Freedom of religion and strict separation of Church and State are fixed principles in this country. This bill should be rejected if it contravenes either proposition. In my judgment, it does neither.”
And that is the story of the Butler Act from the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925.
So, until we meet again, and for “Celebrate the Bible 250” this is Francis Douglas. If you’re interested in learning more about the History of the Christian Holy Bible in America, please subscribe now:
America 250 Semiquincentennial Bible Celebration 