The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-08-31
Dean Stanley.

Dean Stanley.
How far the life of the Dean was right
in the sight of God we dare not attempt
to say. We do not desire to sit in iudg-
ment upon him. Yet it would not be
faithfulness to divine truth were we to
fail to call attention to the very erro-
neous character of his teaching. 1t is an
old motto "to say nothing but good of
the dead and we should not have de-
parted from the rule in this instance, did
not the press, both secular and religious,
TEEN with notices of Dean Stanley in
which, while tie merited need of praise
is awarded to his mental and literary
characteristics, no mention is made of the
fact that in spiritual discernment he
seemed sadly wanting. AS an assailant
OF the plenary inspiration of Scripture,
and reflector, in his writings, of the sub
stitutionary character of Christ's atone
ment, Dean Stanley is not entitled to thea
praise of Christians. AS brilliant and
attractive writer he sought, and has OBJ
tanned, the plaudits of the world. -Epis-
copal Recorder.
What we have lately said about the
apparent hesitation of Dean Stanley to
satisfy himself as to what he did believe
in theology is borne out by this notice of
his character in TIE Atheaeum. 1t says:
1t was the weakness of the Deans
mind, and at the same time one of the
causes of his tolerance and his consequent
influence, that he never faced the ques-
ton, how much content a. e., contents1
he assigned to the dogmas of the English
Church? Without any dishonesty, he
always turned from the attempt to define
precisely any article of its Creed. He
was ready to dwell on the moral and
spiritual lessons to be derived from it,
but from an exact inquiry into its truth
he averted his attention"
This is true criticism and indicates,
as is said, a weakness. Men want to
know What is truth Independent.
The Christian Union, in an editorial
eulogy on the late Dean Stanley, said:
Each sect in turn may cite his writ
ings as an authority for its peculiar
tenets; and yet his loyalty to his own
Church was never seriously questioned.
He denies that for infant baptism there
is any authority in Scripture, but he is
not Baptist; he shows the parallel be-
tween the ancient Jewish synagogue and
the modern Presbyterian Church, and
traces the organization of the primitive
Christian Church to its pattern in the
Jewish synagogue, but he is not a Pres
byterian; he discovers in the Apostolic
Church but two orders, the clergy and
the deacons, but he is not Congregation
alist; he finds no authority in Scripture
for the doctrine of a vicarious atonement.
but he is not Unitarian; he entirely
disavows verbal inspiration, and it is
doubtful whether he believed in the Old
Testament miracles, but he is not a ra-
tionalist. :. He was an utter disbe-
lever in the doctrine that religious
teacher is bound to teach in accordance
with the standards and discipline of his
denomination
He neither repudiates the miracles nor
maintains them. In truth, it is difficult
to guess whether he believed or disbe-
lieved in the miraculous He believed
in the moral and spiritual beauty of the
story; he told the story for its moral and
spiritual beauty; and he left the believer
to accept and the disbeliever to reject the
miracles. Whether he believed them,
but would not allow the belief to inter-
pose an obstacle between himself and the
or disbelieved them, and
would not allow his disbelief to pref udice
the believer against him, we defy any
man to determine from mere reading of
the volumes"
We wonder if the departed Dean him
self was conscious of all this, and if this
condensation of his intellectual and reli-
gious character would meet with his ap-
proval. 1t becomes all to speak carefully
of the dead. And in dealing with one
of the pure character and high social
of the late Dean of Westminster,
while the utterances of friendship give
the general tone to the papers, it may
seem both ungracious and presumptuous
to utter dissent, much more to find
fault. But we confess we cannot UNDER
stand how man could knowingly act so
as to justify such panegyric, or pro-
nounce it approvingly upon another who
had SO acted; though we can see how
one who has exhibited similar spirit
may be able to praise it III another
Presbyterian Banner.
Even your Sanctification.
The more sound orr exnerienoe tbe