, 1881-09-01

u1clr c0rruDC tlSc ny DtM0ctnllc 0lliGlnlS. IL
ducs not become the IE'Dria to comment
upon tho public charities Of my other Statc.
]
THE DotTR1NE OF INSP1RAT1oN.
The trial Ut the llev. Dr. rllolns, which
begins thls morning. will haye una uscful
result II 1t Bhnlk ttrter1t1iu precisely what
tho doctrines OF tic Methodist Episcopal
| Church hre. DR.. Thomas Is accused generally
0f ERRONEOUS teachings with reference tn tho
Inspiration Of tho Scriptures, thu atUne'ncnt,
nnu future punishment. liz maintatms that
Ills opinions Ill nll these respects nru ltl IT,
cprtlallco with the Discipline nlid Articles Of
Religion 0f the Church. Ills acctlsers assert
the contrury. There Is, happily, no doubt
til 1)r. Thoutns' easc, us there WIS Ia Prof,
SWINGS, MS tU wllat his opinions really aye.
| Flle dispute Is about tho standards Ut the
Church. They ara On trinl even more tIInll
The 1lu,uinn1 defendant.
Thu Views Ut Dr. Thomas concerning the
inspiration OF tho Scriptures possess pecul-
tar Interest nt this time because they ltayo
obtalncu unexpected cou,,tcnhtco al,u SUP
port frDT tho learned company at men win
hayo !ate'y completed the revision Of thc
New Testament. Dis1llssfng for tho prcs-
lieresles TOUCHING tho atonen,cnt and future
punishment, It may be Interesting to inquire
wllat Dr. Thomas Is nccuse.t Of al,d wl,at
Ills defense will probably bo III the ,l,.ttcr Ut
the Inspiration Of t!1o Scriptures.
Tic general charge Is ti,at i,c has "ttis-
senninatcd erroneous doctrines "-that Is,
nHscrlptnral teachlngs-nnl Specification 1.
Is rs follows:
|
portions or Tho eluon!cnI Scriptures il, slch way
s to !tntnuonizo tho Filth Article nr ltotfEiUn rs
found in tho Dtsciptlno III tho Methudist Eplsco-
| rM Church: Thls III Sermon pretchGl lii CGt.-
tc'lary Msthotl*t Episcopal Church, Chicago. OF
tho 10Th day OF Oct0ocr. "A. u. 1ss,.
It Is understood tho unswcr Ut Dr. Thonlns
to this specification will be: ~ Thut tic
Articles of Religion 10 l,ot nssert tho t.spr's-
tionand authority Of all portions Of tho canuIi-
ical Scriptures; aM (a) that llo 1las never
antauouizctt tho Fifth Of my otllor OF tho
Articles Of Religion of the Mntholtst Cnurclt:
Tho "ArtIcles Of Religion" are Silent
about tho doctrine Of inspiration. They
nowhere Affirm It directly or Indirectly. THO
cnre of tho fathers Ut the Cliurell seems to
llavo been rather, oil the other side, To re-
strain ministers from believing TINT tho
| Scriptures did not cbntaln att TINT was rs
scntfat to salvation; but tho doctrine TINT NIL
which It does contain Is 10 essential Is
lleltllcr Il logical Ilnr u natural deduction
from tho foregoing. The Fifth Article,
which will ufteil 10 heard uf III the trlul, Is
rs follows:
Tho Holy Scriptures contain NIL thiugs neccs-
anry tn sMavAtson; 81 thAl whatsoever Is moi ruud
required Of nv n.at that /. shnaid 10 % believed
hs i'm article Ut fntth Or bo thought rclufsit Or
ioy Sculptures We Do aniesssand @ i tsoso eauoa. S o
ical hooks OF tho Old and Now Testament Of
aqy sF s o W of 9SD 9Sa !" ~
,Ai tho books u tho Now Testament III they Mra
commonly received wo do aceeive and accs'a,.t
Goi by MoAcs un tho triSo It IT jows @ ns t,.scl. a
tnx ccrcnlonits and rites doth not blna Chris.
nccessfty be rccatveJ ay cs chrissn .e"tas cSto y.
w;%s,'h yot i fr, n chr;tisn
commandments which aro cnlled ,l,nrul.
Dr. Tho'uns, III tho sermon referred to In
tic specification above given, did not reject
this Arttcle OF Filth. On tile contrary, lle
explicitly saIl:
bci!eyo the doctrine OF our Church OF, that
snb1gct-that the lio!y Scriptures conta!n all
thAt Is essential tor salvation. 80 tnat whatevur
"a not taught th0rctn or cAunnt bo proved thorc-
by should int 10 reRnrted Of my ucon,nt.
hc'ieyu that tioI bus spokcn tn us III tho lIny
|'s VIII SSi!sso npiey @ H Il so '"xStS t"aoiiigs
of Jesus Christ, Tut doat telicyo that iii
SdSs5 5ss ssaSss@ fat e @ f s"n y1sS
- ternlly and srltlSal'y intal!!Llg, and do.l't
ee pg nDM ax @ hoys t. t9s aa u y eytra r. 1S ~.
litnral vorbnl rnlB or Inspiration III applied 10 n
r,s of r. .h1 ssrtpass9s @ a g any thnt ru,o is
to put clubs into tho hnnds Of fldols With which
to brcnk our hcsltls.
Tllero Is nothing In this declaration TINT is
not consistent with tho "4Artlcles Of Rulg-
ion." Thera is nothing IN 1t ni,tagonstic to
tho tcacl,Ings ot tic Bible Tho tluutrlne Of
Inspiration IL not taught or nnywl,ure as-
sorted IN tho sacred writings themselves,
Tho llIble Is as silent about inspiration us the
Methodist Articles Ut Religion urp.
Tllo tl0ctrine 1T Inspiration hns been sup
poscu heretofore 10 rest wholly upon verso
III paul's Epislie to Timothy, reading "AIl
Scripture Is given by inspiration Ut Gu.l,'
0tc. This sentence ts proved by ttio revlscrs
nf the NeW Testament to hnyo been gross
n,stranslation. Eur purposes of comparison
W. put ths old ind .ow version stlu by sItlp i:
Old ET''0 4. Tso at S;,s p,as psssIen x TIN. ~.
by Inspiration of dn proiltab!s fur tcacnln%' s
ai.d 4 profitable tor for ropro,f, tur corree. s
correoson for i,sr'le. Wsh wilt l. tn ri1hto,saa
tIon In Righteousness. ftlcss.
The dtifuretco betWe1n the texts IL vital,
OI'o assorts that aIl Scripture Is given by In.
slIlratfon Ut God; the other that evory
Scripture 10 given ts ,lseflil for certain pur-
poses, which Is hardly nlore than II truts1u.
ills strange that this ra.tcal alteration suul.!
SO loilK haye escaped tho Intention OF critics
OF ttle now reyIstol.
ltwiI! bo extremely difficult to coi.yIct Dr..
Tll0nRs Of heresy OH account Ut AEs hleas IT
INSPIRATION lfe believes In tho doctrine OF
tho Church; In tho jty!ns mission Of Christ;
In tie saerelness md e,1lcaey Ut tile Script
ures. lie believes that they contain ntt tl,ar
IL necessary for salvation. twill bu hard to
punish him for not, believing that they nso
all Inspired Ut tod, eyo.. III tho parts whic.