The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1888-05-31
DIR. WOODROW GUILTY.
HIS THEORIES On EVOLUTION
CONDEMNED
by the General Presbytery of the
southern Presbyterian Church at
Baltimore

BY the General Presbytery of the
southern Presbyterian Church at
Baltimore.
Especial Correspondence to the Sentinel
BALTIMORE, Md, May 26 'SS.-
All last week Baltimore was excited
as she has seldom been over the case
of DR.. Woodrow, the South Carolina
minister and teacher whose theories of
evolution caused such rumpus last
year and lost him the profess ,rship
in the Theological Seminary at Co
lumbia.
In his defence on Tuesday of last
week he made most powerful address
before the Presbyterian Assembly
and a tremendous audience of out
siders who had been attracted to the
hall. The outline of his speech is as
follows:
He had been charged with subordi-
mating the scriptures to science. That
was not true. He had never written
or spoken word which could bear
any such construction. He had never
taught word that would throw doubt
upon the head of Adam with regard
to the manner in which or of which
God formed his body. He quoted
from his writing regarding the eleva-
ton of higher from lower animal life.
He had ne er said word about apes
and monkeys as had SO often been as
serted. He believed Adam to be a
miraculous creation. He held all his
teachings of the Holy Scriptures and
to nothing else. So he holds his opin-
ion as to the formation of Adams
body. Upon any subject on which
the scriptures are silent he accepts
natural history as his guide, but only
ON such subjests. As church court
the General Assembly had nothing to
do with his view outside the teachings
of the Bible. All it has to do is to
discover if his teachings conflict with
the scriptures, and if they do not then
the case must end. The laws of gray
itation inform US that iron in water
will sink, and yet the Bible said in
one place that ''iron did swim" That
instance did not make the law of gray
itation inconsistent with the Scrip
lures. He then quoted Scripture as
to the formation Of the sun, moon and
stars, and. Of the four corners of the
earth. Did any one suppose the earth
to be rec "ngular formation? 1t
had been taught that the sun and
moon move around the earth, but sci
enee had done away with that idea,
and it was no longer thought Of As
to man, they were told that "out of
the ground God formed every living
thing" and further ON it says Adam
shall return to dust whence he came.
The Serpent was condemned to eat
dust. Was that organic dust? Ger
tainly it was inorganic matter. Was
any man prepared to say that his
Or. Woodrow's) views are antagon-
istic to the Eible? He did not think
there could be. He quoted from Pad
dington, Brown and others as to their
views of the dust of which man was
formed, meaning dust from which,
through steps from one stage to an
other, man came to have dominion
over all other lising crea."res. He
did not believe that he would be con-
demned for rejecting ideas which were
held two hundred years ago; and
which had no foundation in fact. 1t
was once believed that lunacy was
controlled by the moon. Must he be-
lieve it now because it was believed
then? The assembly of Westminster
taught that the sun moves. 1t would
be unreasonable to expect that he
would believe it because West minister
taught it. 1t made no difference wheth-
er the formation of Adams body was
mediate or immediate. He was made
a living soul, and God made the cove
nant with him. The Presbytery of
Augusta could not find conviction
against the speakers belief, for he had
not antagonized the Bible. He had
not taught that God had performed
his works supernaturally. That will
have to be determined by each indi-
vidual mind. He believed that God
formed man out of the dust OF the
ground, anu yet he was charged with
contrary to the Bible and the
standards because he went beyond
aud believed what was not contained
in them or upon which they are silent.
To sustain the Synod of Georgia would
be to condemn all who believe there
may be some truth in evolution. 1t
was fact that the Church had never
failed in deciding ON science to decide
a wrong.
Rev. DIR. Adams, of Augusta, the
then began his argument
ON the part of the Synod of Georgia.
He was followed by several able
speakers on both sides, among them
Judge Hesskell, DIR. Strickler and
others. Several days were spent in
Lhe d scdssion, but now all is over
To-day Rev. J. Henry Smith, of
North Carolina, presided and the
case was finally decided as follows: To
sustain DIR. Woodrow, "a; to sustain
in part, 2; not to sustain, 109. Rev.
7. G. Whaling, of South Carolina,
gave notice that hewould enter pro-
test against the decision. A telegram
was then read from the Philadelphia
Convention. Express.
ing tie most cordial feelings and stat
ing that any overtures looking to a
union of the Southern Presbyterians
with the Northern would be gladly
DIR. Woodrow left for his home, in
Colrc,1,;o ConfI Coro1;,,a +Lss ,x,o,,