Daily Los Angeles herald., 1881-06-04
4 Da.gerous lnnovasios.

EeEuapS tue mOst interesting lea.
ture of current discussion and con-
troversy, for some time past, has
hinged upon the revision of the
Holy Bible. We have felt a keen
Interest In this quite sensational
religious development. On the
one hand we have the Roman
Catholic Church which, from
logical standpoint, is absolutely in
dependent of any or all editions Of
the Bible. That superb organiza-
tIon puts itself forth as having
been In full. valid and efficacieus
vigor before even a single line of
the Bible had been written. "Thou
art Peter" said Christ, "and upon
this rock build my church." The
Roman Catholics claim that the
Pope Of to-day is the regular, il not
lineal successor, Of the clumsy and
cowardly fisherman OF Galilee,
whom Christ hopored above all his
Apostles on account of his brute
and dog.like fidelity. They point
to those passages of St. Paul in
which the faithful are exhorted to
hold fast to the traditions, and the
oldest Christian church plants it.
self absolutely anu entirely upon
the gospel as interpreted by its own
divine authority. The next Oldest
Christian church, the Greek, takes
precisely the ground of the Roman
Catholic; and, in most of its OBJ.
servances and details of faith and
practice, though the hierarchy is
different, the Greek persuasion is
remarkable confirmation of the
Catholic claim rs to its hight of in.
terpreting the scriptures.
These remarks are merely iUtro-
ductory to the statement of the fact
that the revision Of the Bible will
be mainly Of interest to the hum
dred and one Protestant sects,
which range from the severe and
predestinarian ideas of Calvin to
the loose and purely intellectual
theology of Theodore Parker.
When Luther repeiled the 2apal
headship Of the Christian church
he started multiplicity of sect.
whose contradictory opinions hav,
been analyzed and com mented upon
at length by Bossuet, the eagl.
Bishop of Meaux. Since Bossueps
time the niceties and variations OF
theological opinion in all quarter.
which do not recognize the infalli
bility of the Pope and the supre.
macy OF tie Roman Curia have
Increased q hundrsd-fold. In tn.
United States to-day there is b
mercurial intellectual impulse
which will either multiply Chris.
tian sects or lead, ultimately, to
an absolute denial Of all authority
founded upon revelation.
1t Is at this stage that a council
oflearnsd men, comprising many Of
the eminent churchmen of Eng.
land and the United States, an.
nounces q revised Bible which
cuts the ground from under the
feet of the average Protestant. 1t il.
safe to say that II the revised Bible
had existed In their day, Fox'.
Martyrology would have been i'm
possible and Bunyan would no,
hsve languished in an English Jail,
or have written his Pilgrims Prog
ress. Both were founded upon q
fanatical belief which could moi
have been generated by the revised
Bible.
While approaching cur entire i IN.
ability to enter upon the field oil
theological polemics, in any detail
or with any authority, we claim te
be able to diagnose the signs of the
times. The new Bible will co.ope
rate with the Ingersolls of the day
In dealing deadly blow 1T belize
In revelation. When long genera
tions OF men and women have reg.
ulated their daily lives upon the
authority and verify of sacred
prescription; when all that Is deal
to the human heart Is at one blow
swept away, the whole fabric of he.
lief Is apt to follow. There is o
homely old adage which runs that
you can't teach an old dog new
tricks. You can't take the hum
BILE and believing Christian, and
shove him into new grooves, with.
out shock which will unsettle
many Of the old timers, and throw
the rising generation utterly out OF
gear. Bob Iugersoll is an eloquent,
cunning and mastery Vitruvius OF
unbelief. But the revisers of the
Bible beat Ingersoll all hol.
low. The Catholic and the Greek
church remain undisturbed by any
scheme OF Bible revision, but
the manifold Protestant commun.
ions are left to struggle with
movement Of unbelief which will
gain momentum as an incident OF
the revision. The man of science
will regard this result as undIluted
goods while the humble and perse.
yeelog believer will hug his King
SeoQe9e Bible to his heart With