Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1891-06-14
INGERS0LL TALKS.
A KEEN REVIEW OF REGENT EVENTS BY THE
FAMOUS AGNOS1IO
The Progress Of ReligiOn-An Interview Which
Will Interest Every Clergyman in America
The altitude Of the General Assembly IN
Detroit in the Case Of DR.. Briggs.

d
ity in the presentation Of MS argument.
His views, therefore, on the recent attl-
tude Of the General Assembly at Detroit
/ in the case of DR.. Briggs, the alleged her
etcal utterauces of the Rev. Heber New
ton, and the desertion of one creed Tor an
other by the Rev. DR.. Bridgman are Of
peculiar interest just at this time Colonel
lngersoll has Just returned from trip
through the West, and in speaking Of these
incidents yesterday he said
There is natural desire on the part Of
every intelligent human being to harmonic
his information-to make his theories
agree-in other words, to make what he
knows, or thinks he knows. in one de
partment agree ana harmonic with what
/ he knows, or thinks he knows in every dc
pariment Of human knowledge.
Now" continued Colonel Ingersoll,
"Dr Briggsis undoubtedly an intelligent
man He knows that nobody on earth
/ knows who wrote the five books Of Moses.
5 He knows that they were not written until
/ hundreds of years after Moses was dead.
/ He knows that two or more persons were
! the authors Of Isaiah He knows that
/ David did not wr te to exceed three or four
of the Psalms. He knows the Book Of
JIob is not a Jewish book. He knows that
the Songs of Solomon were not written by
| Solomon. He knows that the Book OF Ec-
! clesiastes was written by free thinker.
He also knows that there is not in eX S
tence tO-dav-sO far as anybody knows
apv of the manuscripts Of the Old or New
Testaments.
$50 about the New Testament Dr..
Briggs knows that NJ oUy lives who has
ever seen an original manuscript, or who
ever saw anybody that did see one, or that
claims to have seen one. He knows thaJ
nobody knows who wrote Mathew, or
Mark, or Luke, or John. He knows that
John did not write John, and that that Cos
pel was not written until long after john
was dead. He knows that nobody knows
who wrote the Hebrews. He also knows
that the book of Revelation is an insane
production. Dr. Briggs also knows the
! Wav in which these books come TO be can
onical. and he knows that the way was no
more binding than resolution passed by
q political convention. He also knows
that many books were left out that had for
centuries equal authority with those
that were put in. He also knows that
many passages-and the very passages up
on which many Churches are iounded-are
interpolations He knows that the last
chap:er of Mark beginning with the six
teenth verse. to the end, is an interpOla-
tion; and he also knows that neither Mat
thew. nor Mark nor Luke ever said one
word about the necessity Of believing on
the / ord Jesus Christ or Of believing any
thing-nOt one word about believing the
Bible or Joining the Church or doing amy
particular thing in the way of ceremony 10
insure salvation He knows that accord
ing to Matthew, God agreed to for
give us when we would forgive
others. Consequently he kzows that
there is not o9e particle ol ocl
Matthew. Marx, or Luke. He knows that
the trouble commenced il John. and that
John was not written until probably one
hundred and fifty years-p cssl0ly two nun
dred years-after Christ was dead. So he
also knows that the sin against the Holy
Ghost is an interpolation; that Il came not
TO bring peace but a sword, " if not an in
terpolation. is an absolute contradiction,
too: he knows that the promise to forgive
in heaven what the disciples should for
give on earth, and to bind in heaven what
they should bind on earth, is an interpola-
ton: and that if it is not an Interpolation,
il is without the slightest sense IN facts.
knowing these things and knowing, in
addition to what have stated, that there
are 30. 600 or 40. 600 mistakes in the Old Tes-
lament. that there are great many con-
tradictions and absurdities, that many Of
the laws are cruel and infamous, and could
have heen made only by oarbarous peo-
ple. DR.. Briggs has concluded that, after
all. the torch that sheds the sercnest aud
eiyiuest light is the human reason, and
that we must investigate the Bible as we
do iher books. At least, ] suppose he has
reached some such conclusion. lie may
imagine that the pare god oi inspiration
stlll runs through the quartz and porphyry
81 Ignorance and mistake, and that
I 10 tn aNtr a
metal by some process that may be called
theological smelling; and If 50 | have no
fault to find. Dr. Briggs has taken a step
in advauce-that is TO say, the tree is grow
ing. and when the tree grows the bark
splits: when the new leaves come the old
leaves are rotting on the ground
"The Presbyterian creed is very Dad
creed. 1t has been the stumbling block,
not only of the hea1. hut OF the heart, for
many generations. | do not know that IL
i. In fact, worse than any other orthodox
creed: but the bad features are stated with
an explicitness and emphasized with can
dor that render the creed absolutely APP
Mailing It's amazing TO NE that any man
ever wrote II. or that any set of men ever
produced H. II is still more amazing that
any human being ever thought it wicked
moi to believe it. Il is more amazing still
Than all the others combined that any
human being ever wanted it TO be true.
"rhis creed is a relic ofthe Middle Ages.
Il has in it the malice, the malicious logic.
the total dcpravity, the utter heartlessness
OF John Calvin, and it gives me great
Measure TO say that no Presbyterian was
ever as bad as his creed And here let me
say. as | have said many times, that DO
not hate observation-disclosures among
them | count some OF my best friends-5ut
| hate Presbyterianism. And ! cannot
illustrate this any better than by saying, |
do not hate man because he has the rneu-
matism, but hate the rheumatism because
it has man.
THE Presbyterian Church is growing,
and is growing because, as | said at first,
there is universal tendency in the mind
of man to harmonic all that he knows or
thinks ne knows. This growth may be de-
layed. The buds Of heresy may be kept
back by the north wind OF Princeton and
by the early frost called Patton. In spite
of these souvenirs of the Dark Ages the
! Church must continue to grow. The theol-
ogians who regard theology Us something
/ higher than a trade tend toward |! oeralisn
/ Those VINO regard preaching is business,
and the medication OF sentiment as trade,
vii! stand by the lowest possible views.
They Will cling 10 the letter aud throw
D
/ limb 10 anew bud or 70 q new Leaf Tccy
want no more sap They delight In the
dead tree, N lis unbending nature and
/ they mistake the stiffness of death Tor tie
vicor and resistance Of llfe
/ Vow, as with Or. Briggs, so with Or
/ Bridgeman. although 10 seems 20 lie thai
/ b. has simply jumped from the fryiue pan
I into the lice, AID why he saolld prefer ti4e
/ Episcopal creed 10 the Baptist is more 'ua1
/ / can imagine. TIE Episcopal creed is, il
/ fact. tusr as bad as the Presbyterian. 7.
ca. ally aud with unr0tii1d brow ut,ers tA-
sentence az eternal p-nis.mon. on tle
na loriIg oil the human race and tAe Eo s.
, ccp-.ial expects 70 0C happy IL heap.u.
. wila his son or A.s daughter or his mo'aC.
or wife in he'll
DR.. Br.dgmau w,i fni himself eslc. 3
{ IN t.e r0Si.iCn of TIE f"v t'r Ne.
provided he expire scs u.s .uO4-.-. 5u-
account fog tie Bri5gmans and for Ins