The record-union., 1891-10-24
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,

Some Matters OF Interest to Both
Ministers and Laymen.
Says the Hebreso Standard: "The re-
lIglon OF some people is constrained.
they are like people who use the cold
bath, not for pleasure, but for necessity
and their health; they go in with reluct-
| ance, and are glad when they get out; but
religion to q true believer is like water to
fish; it his element, seemingly his ma
tive element; he lives in it and he could
not live without it."
The Christian Union says of DR.. Briggs
accusers: 'They specify as errors con-
victions entertained by a great and grow
ing body in the Christian Church; and
they condemn these utterances, and de-
mand that the Presbyterian Church con-
denim them, not merely as opposed to Pres
| byterian standards-which at this very
moment the Presbyterian Church is re-
vising. and which therefore for the time
constitute very unsatisfactory standard
for such a trial-but also as opposed to
the Bible, the recognized standard of all
| Protestant Churches for all time. Thus
they have framed an indictment which
| presents for hereSy a large proportion Of
the ablest Biblical scholars of Germany
and England, not to say Of this country,
and a large and influential minority Of
! the Christian ministers and laymen of
all communions.
''In condemning the declaration that
the church and the reason are fountains
OF Divine authority, they condemn alike
The ancient fathers who appealed to the
! church and the Puritan diVines who con-
stantly appealed to reason; in condemn
ing the declaration that james Martineau
and Cardinal Newman found God and
walked with him, they bred as heresy an
| Nfansf n
| by all who are familiar with the lives and
writings of those men of God; in con-
demning The doctrine that religious expe-
rience is largely determined by tempera-
ment and environment, they repudiate
proposition accepted as automatic by all
students of psychology; in demanding
the deposition from the Christian minis
| try OF an eminent scholar for teaching
that Moses did not write the Pentateuch,
nor Isaiah the latter half Of the book
which bears his name, they demand the
| deposition OF so conservative and evan
gelical scholar as Delitzsch, who, in the
! last editions of his Genesis and Isaiah.
maintains the probability of both opin-
ions, and of such students and interpre-
ters Of the Word as Cheyne, Driver, San
| day and host of others in England. In
deed, it would be difficult to name a man,
eminent as Biblical scholar in eitherGer-
many or England, who holds different
opinion
The Observer (Pres.) says: SIT is evil
| dent from the various votes taken on diff
ferent points all involving the same
issue, that nearly half Of the Presbytery
were in favor of avoiding the dangers,
difficulties and distresses Of an ecclesias-
tical trial. No vote was taken which
could in any way be considered an ex-
preston of opinion in regard to the views
or position of Professor Briggs. Those
who voted in favor of not proceeding with
the trial include at least three classes {:
tQ). His associates and others who sympa-
thlZe with his views. ~. Those who
have no sympathy with his views, but
are in favor Of giving them liberty to be
held and taught in Presbyterian schools,
and ~ those who are not in favor of
either these views or this liberty, but
who regard trial for heresy as an inju-
dicious way TO remedy an evil"
The Evangelist (Pres.) says: "As to the
| victory OF the prosecution, if such thew
choose TO call it, it was by such narrow
margin, very hairs breadth, that it was
little, if any, better than defeat. So, in
fact, we think they regard it themselves.
No one could watch them during that
long debate without seeing that the heart
was completely taken out of them by the
decided front they encountered. In that
conviction we are quite willing to leave
them to reflect on the lessons of this
memorable day. So. without any wish
to boast of that which is past, or to
prophesy of that which is to come, we be-
lieve the result will finally be good. A
storm may have been needed to clear the
air. A harmless explosion sometimes
saves a terrific one; and this so far has
been quite harmless, and we have no
fear OF great commissions or upheavals in
the future"
The Wdtchmdn (Bapt.) says: "It is
amazing how the drift of PRESBYTERIAN
thinking is towards the recognition of
the Bible as the infallible rule of faith
and practice to quote Professor Vim
cents exact words in his opening ad-
dress at Union the other day. If this
strikes the Presbyterians as novel doc
trine, it must be because they are
strangely unfamiliar with Baptist doc
trines. But when we remember that
until recently Presbyterian ministers on
trial for heresy were not permitted to an
peal TO the Scriptures over the Confess
sion, it is not strange that it seems new.
In the realm of systematic theology, as a
distinguished Baptist theological profess
sor remarked The other day, Baptists
have been far too dependent upon the
Presbyterians, but in regard to the
thought in the Presbyterian churches has
been altogether towards the doctrines of
the Baptists."
In his opening address at Andover
| Theological Seminary, Professor VIM
Jewett Tucker said: Historical crit.
icism has already given far more than it
has taken away. 1t has put reality in
place of infallibility in the chief seat of
authority. Instead of Bible commune
Gated by verbal inspiration. of equal au-
thority in all places, inerrant where mis-
fot- II f1vr., pl,N,
rily, have been made, it has given us a
| Bible communicated naturally through
men who spoke as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost; who also believed and
therefore spoke who wrote of things
they knew according to their knowledge,
and ofthings transcending human knowl-
! edge according TO their quickened, pu-
rifed and enlarged apprehension of the
mysteries of God; who bore faithful and
true witness, according to the very di-
versity of their personal observation and
4 experience, TO the great facts and events
through which revelation eliminated
before their very eyes, in the life, passion
and resurrection of Jesus Christ; and
who, in a simple but grand unconscious
ness, left their work absolutely un encum-
bered by any unnatural claims, that so
the outcome of Scripture as revelation
of God and duty might become to the
reasonable acceptance of the church an
| 'infallible rule of faith and practice
Historical criticism has done away with
the dilemma, terrible to many serious
minds-either the Bible word for word
from cover to cover, or no Bible at all. 1t
has given to honest and intelligent doubt
the privilege of honest and Intelligent
faith. And 1t has given to faith itself, TO
untroubled believers, even though many
may be unconscious of its source, a new
enthusiasm. / think that it is not too
much 10 say that historical criticism has