The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-03-08

time did not believe in His true Deity) nor |
from Judas who, if he did, believed to his |
own condemnation, it is hardly decent for |
Christians of our day to withhold from any |
good man who wishes thereby to declare |
and strengthen his Christian faith. But the
bigoted cry was raised, and it took the form
of demanding that Mr.. Vanoe Smith should
be expelled from the society of revisers, as
sort of act Of superstitious expiation for the
desecration which has been done-or, as the
Bishop of Rochester shamelessly put it,
''the injured honor of the Lord required
some reparation."
This cry the Bishop of Winchester CDR.
WilbeIforce) took up, finding it popular in
the external Church. Though he had made
no effort last July to get Mr.. Vance Smith
expelled from the body of revisers, he had
discovered by this time, through his CORES
pondence with the American and other Epis-
copal Churches, that it was wicked for the
revisers to avail themselves of the learning
of man who 'denied the Godhead of our
Saviour" Though the Church had availed
Itself of ''uusanotiied" learning, it could not
go 80 far as to use learning so unsanctifed
as that of Unitarian the help of Jews
learning would have been far less exception
able, because though the Jew denies the
Godhead of our Saviour, yet-well the Bishop
did not get much farther than the ''yet, pro-
badly he hardly knew why he preferred the
Jew, but we rather think it was because the
Jew may be an orthodox bigot and
''sanctifed" Pharisee in his own department,
while Socinian is necessarily a black sheep.
The Bishop Of Gloucester and Bristol tried to
be more fair. He had objected to Unitarian
from the first, on the ground, amongst others,
that Unitarian scholar is sure to have doc
trinal bias in relation to the translation of all
passages bearing ON the personality of the
Second and Third Persons of the Trinity, a
ia Ior ~ "a
applies equally to all Churches-would make
the Trinitarians as liable to ee parte pref udices
as the Unitarians-would render it impossible
to work with an Independent in translating
passages relating to the Church and the Epis-
copacy-or with Baptist in translating pas
sages touching upon baptism.
The simple truth u.s. that the Bishops show
by their cowardly futtering and cackle over
this scandal of acting with learned Uni
tartan, that they have no real faith in their
own creed or their own work. If they sup
pose tkat Christ can be "dishonored" by
| frankly asking the opinion of an honorable
scholar who does not believe in the Divine
| essence of Christ, as to the trEe meaning of
| Greek or Hebrew words, and giving him
| single vote in council composed otherwise
of pure Trinitarians, on the proper translation
of such words, we can only say that to us they
seem to dishonor our Lord by their cowardly
doubts. They treat the Divine Being as if
he were as sensitive and jealous of human
opinion as an English Bishop. What
| can God want of us more than honest
trust and faith? Can He not make Unita-
rian to honor, and a Trinitarian (even a
bishop to dishonor? Is Unitarian, speaking
on his honor as to the meaning of Greek
words and syntax, less likely to assert the
truth than a Trinitarian speaking on his
honor on the same subject What the bishops
will be believed, and with justice, really to
fear is, that the revision should turn purely
upon scholarship, and not be BIASED by doc
trinal considerations. If they do not fear
this, they are acting from a worse motive
still-not the desire for the best possible re-
vision of the Bible, but regard to the praise
of bigoted and narrow minded men,
1t has unhappily fallen to the lot of the
present writer to read many outbursts of un-
real religious and theological cowardice, to
peruse the plaintive wailings of many assocla-
tions of men more anxious great deal about
what the world shall think of their religious
thoughts than about the real object of those
thoughts. But it has never fallen to his lot
to read more hopeless and faithless, and he
ventures to say, in spite of sincere respect for
some of them, more despicable quaverings of
religious panic than are to be found in Taes-
days and Wednesdays deliberations of what
is pleased to call itself the Upper House of
Oonvocation. The Nicene Creed, indeed !
LIS 1t conceivable for moment that
any man who really believes that
'for us men and for our salvation
Jesus Christ came down from heaven, and
was incarnate in our flesh, should shrek out
treason because a good Greek scholar, who
does not believe this, is asked to help towards
ascertaiping the true meaning of the Greek
words in which this great gospel was first
told? Did not somebody, commonly sup
posed to be more than bishop, assert that
''dR things work together for good to them
that love God, and amongst the ''all things
would He not certainly have included any
true science or scholarship No Church can
stand which is ruled by such chickhenearted
men as debated together in a sense
less panic on Tuesday and Wednes-
day last If these men knew what is
truly thought of their faithlessness and
cowardice by the outward world, they would
know that what is much more likely to be
remembered as the true "Westminster Scan
dal" than the admission of a Unitarian to
communion last summer, is the dishonorable
display of faithlessness exhibited by them.
selves in the name of their Lord and Master
in the sitting of this week. The Bishop OF
Exeter and the Bishop of St. Davids are
noble exceptions to the character Of the Epis-
copal speeches. DIR. Thirlwall in the Upper
House, and Dean Stanley in his trulyssadmi
rable speech in the Lower House, have done
something towards redeeming the honor OF
our Church.