The record-union., 1891-03-15

brlSSS' prospectus uflaG we Will not an
ticipate an unfavorable verdict on the
completed volume of his professional
work. His Inauguration in Presbyte-
rian seminary marks an era of the evolu-
ton of American Christianity"
The Christian Register Unity says:
"Dr. Briggs has raised hornets nest by
using IN his inaugural address the term
'bibliolatry,' and the newspaper wasps
are buzzing about him with a good many
singing and even poisonous paragraphs.
Some of our Presbyterian brethren do
not like to have even the dust blown
off their Bibles. Yet DIR. Briggs never
uttered more wholesome truth than
when he classed bibiolatry with mariol-
atry- and other superstitions. 1t is not
the strength, but it is the utter weakness,
of the Protestant Church to maintain the
dogma of Biblical infallibility. The fact
of infallibilty, whether it concerns the
Pope or the Bible, is one that can be
easily tested. The Bible can no more
stand the test than can the Pope. It is
absolutely impossible to verify any such
claims. They are simply assertions, and
assertions which are very damaging to
the Bible. Professor Briggs, by showing
what the Bible really is, and the elements
of inspiration which enter into the grand
old Book, is doing more TO preserve it
from attack and contempt than the men
who are bitterly CHASING him with in
fdels and sceptics."
The Old and Nep Testament Student
says: Not a few Writers on Biblical
subjects who belong to what is termed the
radical school OF critics, are in danger
of neglecting certain great general con-
siderations concerning the Bible, which
profoundly modify their conclusions and
should underlie all their Investigations.
This is not unnatural. Acuteness and
breadth rarely appear in the same mind.
The faculty of minute investigation is
often out of all sympathetic touch with
the faculty of wide generalization. Spe-
cialism is impatient of that habit Of look
ing at things which may be called COM
prehensive, and is inclined to label it
superficial or 'inaccurate.' OF course
this is all wrong. The truth is that 'spe-
cialization' is only one hemisphere of in
vestigation; the other and complement
ary half is generalization Neither has
completely seen the whole truth about
the subject nor can ever see it. Both are
mutually corrective. Both are indis-
pensable to the final understanding Of a
subject. The elementary fact constantly
demands restatement in the sphere of
Biblical study. The higher critic is con-
hnually forgetting it, and carping at the
crude theorizing of the general scholar
upon topics OF scripture. The general
scholar. on his part, is contemptuous of
tions,' the critical method and the neg
ative attitude of the critic. 1t ought to be
seen that each can learn from the other,
and that their attitude should be sympa-
thetic, not antagonistic."
The Rev. DR.. n. G. Clark, in the Chris
tid9t Union, sets forth the present emer-
gency in the American Boardn He says
that last February a reduction was or
dered of not less than 16 per cent. on the
expenditure of the board. 1t was hoped,
nevertheless, that when the appropria-
tions were made out in November it
would be possible to advance somewhat
on the sums pledged, so as not to require
so great retrenchment as was impend-
ing; but when the time came there was
no such increase of funds as would war
rant any advance on the pledges given for
1891. Had there been no progress in the
missions, this reduction would have been
a less serious calamity. Had there been
retrogrademoveme in the missions,
the general reduction ordered would not
have been a burden; but the more prog
ress a mission had made, the more it was
called to suffer, as in Japan, for example,
where the reduction was not 16 per cent,
but about 40 per cent. on the educational
and evangelistic " ork. A similar reduc-
ton was required in China and in several
other missions,
DR.. Clark thinks that the great Otis and
SWEET bequests, though very useful for q
time, were not altogether beneficial. He
says: 1.-The immediate result upon the
churches at home was, in some instances,
to diminish their gifts for the foreign
work as being adequately provided for,
and, to some extent, to turn their gifts
i,,tN <NfI III,
years the donations from the churches
have been but very slightly increased.
The gain in contributionshas been mainly
through the Woman's Boards and through
legacies. #i@ What is done must be
done quickly, that it be we'll done. The
increase in the missionary force, the ex-
haustion of supplies from the great be-
quests, and the rise of silver, in which
payments are made in India, China and
Japan, have added more than SlG0,O0O to
the current expenses of the year, leading
to the retrenchment of this year. A care
full survey of probable resources and eX-
penditures for 1892 makes it evident that
a further reduction of not less than 20 per
cent. must be made in the appropriations
for 1892, unless there is a great advance in
the gifts of living friends of missions"
The Christian Union says, editorially:
eve are not surprised at the facts
indicated in DR.. Clarll's paper. It
is. indeed, rather surprising that
the division and strife which have
aroused the interest, but divided and dis
sipated the energies of the Congrega-
tional churches during the past five years,
have not produced even more serious re-
suits. We do not propose to discuss the
question of responsibility-c certainly not
in this paragraph. 1t is easier, and ought
to be more profitable, to point out the
remedy. That remedy is not in mutual
suspicion and ill-will. It is not in GRIM
ination and recrimination. 1t is not in
partisan triumphs; in excluding one sec
ton OF the church from participation in
the work and counsels of the board, and
expecting their participation in its sup
port. 1t is in cordial combination on the
basis of a common faith, and mutual
consent to lay aside those matters of be-
lief which are not common. 1t is in a
spirit of mutual trust in each other
as Christians, engaged in common
work, bound together by a common faith,
loyal to one master, and engaged in ac-
complishing his service. If in this spirit
both wings will go on with the work of
the future, loyal to the instructions given
at Minneapolis, the board may yet recover
its lost ground, and have future before
it grander even than its grand past"
jerry Simpson and the Chief Justice.
+ jerry simpson, the SockleSS statesman,
who has been elected by Kansas to Con-
gress, will be one of the characters of the
next House. He will by no means be the
only man of his class in Congress, and
the stories of the boorishness of ofCongress-
men promise to be more numerous than
ever before. Simpson is by no means the
only illiterate statesman in Kansas, and
1 heard last night the story of an incident
which occurred when Lord Chief Justice
Coleridge, of England, was in this coun-
try. Coleridge was a perfect Chesterfield
as regards manners. He was man of
great ability and wide learning, and he
knew the classics as well as he did the
English. During his tour through the