St. Paul daily globe., 1891-01-10
MACQUEARY's HEREsY.
'sThe Evolution of Man and Chris
fianity''


CLEVELAND, o., Jan. 9-The ecclesiastical
trial of Rev. Howard MacQueary, of Canton,
O.. which began yesterday, promises to be
one of the most famous in the history of the
Protestant Episcopal church, and will attract
the attention of christians of every name,
not so much because of the prominence of
the clergyman to be tried and the doctrinal
points involved, as the general desire to
know Just how much latitude is to be allowed
to the Episcopal clergy.
The heretical opinions for the hold
ing and stating of which Mr.
jury of his peers by Bishop Leonard were
given to the public about one year ago i'll a
book entitled THE Evolution of Man and
Christianity" Subsequent statements by
Mr.. MacQueary have not modified the ex-
pressions contained in this book, and a Sec
ond edition, to be issued the Goth inst, will
reiterate and endeavor to substantiate, by ad-
ditional argument and proof, the condemned
opinions.
MIR. MacQueary is an evolutionists who be-
lieyes that '.man has been evolved, body and
soul, from lower animal FORM He says:
There is no more reason to believe that
Genesis is inspired than to believe George
Smiths Chaldean Genesis is; they both came
from the same region, and were evidently
the result of the speculations Of Chaldean
sages.
He ridicules the idea "that God came down
to some spot-say i'll the plains of Mesopota-
inia-and took up dust and made mua man
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
Iife' and declares:
The third chapter of Genesis. like Bun
vans "Pilgrim's Progress" contains pro
found moral and spiritual truths, but we do
not believe that the popular view of mans
primitive condition is either scripturally or
scientifically correct. The proposition that
a being created perfectly pure and in direct
communion with God should disoDey him is
utterly irrational. ALI his inclinations would
be toward the good, and it would be morally
impossible for him to do evil.
That is to say, Mr.. MacQueary denies the
orthadox doctrine of the origin of sin, in
nate depravity, and that Adam fall was the
sine qua non of Christ's mission He be-
lieyes that Paul wrote the ten epistIes com
monty accredited to him; the Revelation is
ST. Johns; and holds that the three first
gospels are not the works of Matthew, Mark.
and Luke, but contain merely notes made
by them. The Gospel OF st. John was writ
ten by Philonic philosopher some time be-
tween the beginning and middle of the sec
ond century. The Acts were written by a
Gentle disciple in Asia Minor, and was
based on notes by st. Luke.
Mr.. MacQueary, while not denying the pos
sibiIity of miracles, and that wonderful and.
properly speaking. miraculous events are re-
corded Ill the New Testament. believes that
those events were different from what they
the cures wrought by the Savior were only
extraordinary examples of what commonly
happens"
The theory of verbal inspiration Mr.. Mac
Queary pronounces to be s.heathenish." He
accepts the theories of the most advanced
higher German critics on the authorship of
the Pentateuch. and accepts the theory of in
Spiration which makes it "a natural produc-
ton of the human spirit" given to Buddha,
ZorOaster or Socrates equally with Abraham.
or pon1 Ac m no ri No
Queary asserts the right to refuse to accept
any man-made theory. He is conteat to rest
on the thought that God is without attempu-
ing to define exactly what he is. AS between
the Athanasian, Arion and Sabellian theories
he would prefer the Sabellian.
AS an evolutionist he accepts the incarna-
ton and defines the divinity of Christ as con-
sisting sin a perfect union of the human
spirit with the divine, but he refers to the
commonly accepted doctrine of the miracu-
lous conception as 1.-The legend of the virgin
birth by the Holy Ghost"
Mr.. MacQueary believes evolution has ex-
ploded the Calyanistic dogma of the atone
ment and proved it to be not only incon-
sistent with any true idea of God, but relic
of barbarism. He declares that to the natural
mystery of the existence of evil the theo-
logians have added the artificial mystery of
Adams fall from state of perfect inno-
cence; that they, hot content with the awful
fact of pain and suffering IN the world, have
added the mystery of the more horrible
dogma that a good God can only be salts
fed by the suffering of his innocent Son."
OF heaven and hell. Mr. MacQueary asserts
that they are stats or spiritual conditions,
not places. He believes in future punish
mept, but refuses to believe thatit is endless.
But il is not for these views that Mr. Mac
Queary has been forbidden to officiate as rec
tor and is now Oh trial. Had he gone no fur
ther in heterodoX faiths than indicated above
he would have had numerous clerical COM
panions: but it is because he denies the
miraculous conception of Christ and the