The record-union., 1891-12-05
In RELIGIONS REALM.
Expressions from the Various
Religious Newspapers.
The Religious Thought of the Day as
Expressed in the Sectarian Press
Some Matters of Interest to Both
Ministers and Laymen.

| In commenting upon the Briggs case
| the Occtdent of San Francisco (Presb.)
| says: THE only question that remains
| concerns the limits of toleration to the
utterance OF critical conclusions, pending
| the arrival of new era of theological
| construction. Dogmatic utterance and
aggressive advocacy of new conclusions
| during the interval cannot fail to result
| IN Derllous unsettlement of faith and de-
cadence of yigor in the church. Even
| supposing the conclusions reached by
| Professor Briggs to be correct, the church
| is not prepared to receive them; and the
| process of testing to which they should
have been subjected before dogmatfc pro-
mitigation would have Schooled the
church to readiness for their reception
| We do not disguise our conviction that
| the boundaries of liberation have been
unduly stretched-not wholly by the ac-
| ton of the New York PreSbytery, but
certainly as the complex result of the
events OF which that Presbytery's action
was the last.''
''Dr. Briggs is grievously to blame,"
the Chicago Interior (Presp.) thinks, ''for
the tone, temper, rashness and even am
biguity of the inaugural address, and he
owes 1t to the church to make an ample
and sincere apology for the disturbance
he has caused. He had no business to
make the statement about the sources of
divine authority without qualifying it
and SO of other statements. No man has
| any right to throw out expressions on
these vitally important truths which any
honest man can conStrue into heresy. If
| he do 1t inadvertently, he ought to make
the correction promptly, upon his atten-
ton being called to it. He says he is
sorry. He can say more in a manly and
self-respecting way, and admit that he
| did wrong, and beg the pardon of his
| brethren for the wrong-doing. That is
the thing for Professor Briggs to do, and
what we devoutely hope he VIII do
| Since the Presbytery of New York has
acquitted him of heresy, he is put upon
his honor to do and say voluntarily what
| ever is necessary to make it right with his
! brethren and the church."
1.-The Presbytery took Professor Briggs
at his word, and on his own estimate of
the teachings of the now famous in-
augural dismissed the proceedings. An
appeal will probably be taken to the
Synod. The Interior saws: There is
nothing liberal or illiberal in the verdict.
1t is simply an issue upon the existence
| or non-existence of alleged facts-a YER
dict as remote from doctrinal significance
as the verdict of a civil jury upon the
facts of civil case.' This may all be
true" remarks the Chicago UniUersaIist,
| ''and yet the failure of the PreSbytery to
make a direct issue with DIR. Briggs is
proof enough that it takes the back track
and leaves the alleged hereto master of
the situation up to the present time"
rs there any great harm in believing
that Moses was to all intents and pur-
poses the author of the first five books g.
the Hebrew Scriptures?" asks the Re
| tgtoatS Herald (Cong.) of Hartford, Conn.
HAS such faith the effect of corruptinp
the believer in it and making him worse
citizen, a more undevout Christian? Inas-
much as the higher critics have nothing
else to offer, why not leave US. poor. un-
critical souls the privilege of believing as
Christ and the apostles, as all successive
! generations down to our own day appear
| to have believed? There is somethinp
positive in the faith we have There is
nothing certain or positive in what these
men would bestow upon us. They leave
us in the dark, while pretending to en-
! tighten us. We are driven to the conclu-
sion that the labor of such critics is we'll
nigh worthless. We turn from it to what
possesses some intrinsic value. We have
some consolation in believing that Isaiah
was the author of the Hebrew poetry
| bearing his name, but none in the theory
that he did not write it, and that we do
not know who did not compose it. We
are justified in putting very low esti-
| mate upon the faculty for the higher criti-
cism.n