The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-03-15
A RemnrkabIe interview with
Henry Ward Beeeher.

A Remarkable Interview With
Henry Ward Beeeher.
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was inter
viewed by 3 Buffalo Express reporter, a
day or two ago, upon the modern aspect
Of thought and its effect upon blblicalin i
auenee and The Christian faith. Nj.
Beecher first discgssed Colonel Tngersoll
as the ableSt extremist Of the age. he
said: Now the great fault l find with Mr..
Ipgersoll Is that he suffered himself to
pick flaws in the mere exterior Of the
Bible, and that the marrow Of II, the
reason Of It. he did nottouch atall, yeti
believes in II. He believed In the most
part Of the Bible Just as far az ] do, but
he hid his light. BE made himself q
special pleader, aud instituted arguments
against the external part Of the Bible and
not against its internal. In'his arguments
against the Bible he attacks the weakest
part Of II, the Language Of metaphor, the
language ofdramS, which was used as q
symboiization and intended To inspire
poetic people with q sense ofthe grandeur
Q God. he l~iteralizes il as II God was q
stern tyrant. Such o method OF argument
would be rejected by any court In the
United States. While ! zee 3 great many
things that he said are true, they are no
more T now than they were before, Tor
they have been recognized true from time
immemorial. 1.-The said them in q dif-
Ferent spirit they would have been taken
in different spirit, but
THE AsMus sPoILsTHEM.
Ithiukltis one OF those transient waves
that will Just pass over the couatry and
amend itself. I think that Mr.. lDgeFsoll,
with the best intentions doubtless In the
world, has made a representation OF re-
lIcion and OF the Bible that would be re-
iected by every intelligent denomination
Of christian men under the sun. Ihey
are the criticisms Of q man who sets out
10 ridicule a book, without taking into
consideration its many excellent features,
and simply makes special pleas, az an
EMPLOYED counsel on one side. ! hold
de Sculptures 10 be inspired, not In the
same way that Milton and Shakespeare
were severally inspired, literary lnspir1'
lion. TO sit down and write out q whole
book; I recognize that it is the sum OF the
religious literature OF one people through
a period OF more than 1000 years. II
has been gathered into one book. and 1t is
the records through that period OF time,
and ia like any other poetry 80 lar as u Is
poetry. Its o religious book. II 70 a
book OF the experience Of the past-be-
longs to the past. 1t forms the record,
not Of the inspiration, literary Inspiration
Of sny one man, but Of that divine inspir.
alton which belongs to the whole nation,
to the life OF q generation. II Is picking
ofrthe grain and gathering 1t back through
long periods OF time 80 that 1t gives to US
an Inspired book, a record OF inspiration
which, through Divine Providence, has
been working on the human race.
MR.. 1~soERsoLL's CRITICISMS
do not inyalidate the Bible any more than
wheat Is inyalidated or its value lessened
when a man brings me the straw upon
which il grows and asks me TO eat that
Now. there are a great many things in
the growth Of the book which stand IN The
same relation to It as the straw stands IN
relation to the grain, The word OF God
contains good, simply the grain, the bread
OF life as we might say, but It also
contains historical statements which we
have outsrown. Who cares for Leyiticus,
Deuteronomy, &c, all those institutional
statements which the people Of thepreseni
age have outgrown? Now, take the New
Testament. Itrepresents q more advanced
period. The points which MIR. lngersoll
criticises, and which men generally crit
icise, are matters about which the human
brain has no competency-the doctrinal
forms. the structure OF the universe, The
absolute nature Of God, the theory Of hui
man government, and the doctrine oil Las
things. They lie beyond the horizon. We
have no means Of investigating them. "
the future Of Christianity, Mr.. Beechei
said at Is what 1 regard as the break.
ing up OF spring, swollen rivers, damaged
bridges and ice and various catastrophies
and yet it is infinitely better than Winter
and constant congelation. think The
growth Of the human mind, the incoming
Of scientific knowledge and scientific
methods, 10 going TO disarrange, to a largt
extent, the old ways OF looking at mora
truths, and there has got 10 be a growth
gradual-not very gradual, either, but
pretty rapid, and a restatement OF all tht
great truths Of humanity Is at hand. and
Il you do not restate these truths, II yor
go on using
,Fpnr -viT, TUFnTnnY.