The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1891-05-20

church and keep speculation out of
their pulpits and strife out Of the
church councils, will meet with a warm
Amen from every thoughtfully devout
Christian. 1t is a sin of the pulpit of
today that its tendency is rather to
unsettle than to confirm faith. There
is q place in literature for religious
and philosophic probing into the
great and unknowable matters of the
spiritual universe, and there may, OF
course, be a time when out Of earnest
conviction a man may feel compelled
to teach new and strange doctrines;
but it appears to us that the orderly
and proper preliminary step Is
amIcable secession from the body
with whose principles the innovator
Is no longer in accord
We cannot see that honest dissent
from a creed, and the preaching OF a
new theory Of eternal life can do any
harm at all comparable to that which
results from an insidious process OF
destruction carried on from within the
fold Of a Christian church. We are
not speaking for any sect in particular;
neither are we contending in any way
for the suppression Of opinion. Our
remarks are intended to refer only to
the preaching, under cover Of a creed,
doctrines and principles which are
foreign to it and irreconciIeable with
1t. This is, in our judgment, heresy
in the worst sense of the word, and Is
a practice condemnable alike on
grounds OF honesty and charity.
Let every man think as he pleases.
Let every man who finds himself I'm
self impelled to publish his convic-
tions and make converts to his views,
go ahead and do SO. We should be
the last to say him nay. But why
should he use the mantle Of beliefs
which are not his to gain him a hear
ing which he would otherwise have to
fight for and to give him the anteee-
dent advantage of his hearers conf
dence. Such a course in politics
would be regarded as ~disingenuous
and dishonorable. Why should ii be
proper in the more sacred realm Of re-
ligious belief
Nobody win deny the right Of a
Roman Catholic priest, for instance,
to change his faith He may become
a Presbyterian or q Unitarian or an
ATHEIST, and still preserve the general
respect as a man Of honest convic-
lions. But II he should attempt to
use the Roman Catholic pulpst to OPP
pose one OF the doctrines OF
that Church-the real presence
or the Immaculate Conception say,
he would not be tolerated
by his superiors for t~wenty-four hours,
and he would not have n particle or
sympathy from the public in his ex-
pulsion from the priesthood 1t seems
to us that several of the eases now
agitating the public are precisely
parallel If DIR. Newton had aban-
doned the Episcopal Church and had
joined some other more in harmony
with his ideas, or had started one OF
his own. many persons might regret
his action, but it could not be
fairly condemned. He would
be strictly within his rights
as q man. But when he breaches
from an Episcopal pulpit, with the
authority of that church behind him,
and with weight given to his words
in his hearers minds by his ordina-
ton to the ministry Of that church
when, we say, he breaches under such
circumstances doctrines regarding the
inspiration Of the Bible. the Incar-
nation and other vital matters.
which are antipodal and even
abhorrent to the creed which is the
foundation of that church, we cannot
see that he is anything but a heretic-
an offender against honesty since he
is enjoying wrongful advantages and
making false pretences, an offender
against charity because he is insidi-
ously disturbing the minds of his
flock, shaking their confidence in their
church and its teachings, and because
he is creating scandal, dissension and
bad feeling IN the whole Christian
community.
Ex-MAVoR CREGIER Of Chicago
says:-"I cannot see how they" tthe
Pork Show boomers) lean possibly
be able to open the Exposition on
May ], 1893, the date specified"
Why, of course, they cannot. Nobody
supposed or supposes they can-
That is not the question What
we all want to know is whether
they will ever be able to
open it, As the matter stands
now not a single exhibit, except
a few crank affairs, has been OBJ
tanned; not q stick or a stone Of any
building has been put in place; there
IRE no defnite plans, and the money
hat viii be available Is an unknown