Blue-grass blade., 1891-11-28


it's something of a "draw'." OF
! "stale mate" DR.. Briggs, it is
} true, has said some things cOnsid-
erably in advance of regular Pres
byterianism-and who has nOt?-
but when they began to corner
! him, he did the Crustacean act
and advanced backward, OF
hedged.
He did this by claiming that
his words had been misinter-
preted.
i He either meant to make an
issue with bis church or did not,
and if he did not so intend he has
been unfortunately long in making
himself understood.
| / do not think he has had the
full courage of his convictions and
do think he has quailed at the
thunders of the odium theologicum.
The Presbyterian church how
!! ever, in dismissing the case against
him, has per consequence been
dragged in advance of its former
position in some particulars, that
make "entering wedges for still
further advances.
For instance in dismissing the
charge of heresy against Briggs
the Presbyterian church has con-
ceded one position of Bishop
Colenso, for which the Bishop
was arraigned by the church Of
England, namely that the Penta-
teuch is not genuine.
Briggs, in his letter of defense,
which the Presbytery accepted,
said:
"It is fact that have taught and
most firmly hold and assert that
Moses is not the author of the Penta-'
touch, and that Isaiah is not the
author Of half the book which bears
his name,'"
In other words the Presbyte-
rian church has, in its highest
court, admitted that nobody knows
the author, or authors of the first
five books of the Old Testament;
and of course as soon as that
church surrenders the claim of the
genuineness of the first five books
of the Bible, their authenticity
must logically be abandoned, as
there is no corroborative evidence
of their authenticity, and the
whole Bible story of the creation.
and the garden of Eden. of the
"fall of man." of the tower of
Babel and the Noachian deluge,
go at one fell swoop; and the
Presbyterian church has practic-
ally, if not-de facto, decided that a
man can be good Presbyterian
adnot believe any of those
stories.
r But lest any of those brethren
hould be grieved above measure,
at this ruthless surrender, by
their leaders, of what has hitherto
been deemed by them as very
sacred, l would call their fainting
spirits to the fact that the story
of Balaam's ass, and that of Jonah
and the whale still stand unim-
peached; as the mythical and un-
substantial Mr.. Moses had nothing
to do with the writing of those two
cherished narratives.
When therefore, the gainsayer
and scoffer guys US with the col
laps and disbanding of Noah's
menagerie, let us challenge him to
disprove that story about Jonah
and the whale, and you will find
that he can't quite come it.
The New York Sun in COM
menting on the status says:
"The dismissal of the case against
DR.. Briggs by large majority of the
ministers and elders of the New York
presbytery indicates that the body is
afraid to go into q discussion Of the
questions involved. It is an attempt
to avoid a dangerous controversy and
an effort to escape the necessity of
expressing an opinion as to the spe-
cific teachings ofthe accused heretic."
"The New York presbytery has an
nounced practically that the fallibility
or infallibility of the Bible is debata-
BILE question as to which a Prebyte-
rian theologian may think as he
pleases.