The sun., 1891-05-25
CHAFING UNDER ORTHODOXY
DR.. PARKHURsTs SERMON AN0IHER
PRESBYTERIAN sENsAq Aq7OMy

II We Can, H Not, Outside or IT,
| Tho sIx.ineh Smile or n Heresy-huntins
Saint or the New York Presbytery-Ne
Tying live Church to n Dead Caivi..
| Tho audience which filled the Madison
Square Presbyterian Church to the doors
yesterday morning heard a sermon from the
| lips Of the Rev. DR.. Charles H. Parkhurst
| which they will remember for long time DR..
Parkhurst had announced his intention last
| week to say something yesterday about the
case Of DR.. Briggs, but the bold attack which
| he made upon the views Of DR.. BriRRss oppo-
| nents In the Church WAS veritable surprise
| to many OF his hearers. BY his sermon DR..
| Parkhurst ranged himself alongside Of Prof.
| Briggs and advanced views which tho Presby.
| terry will hardly pass by II 1t pronounces DR..
Briggs hereto.
The text was Prove all things: hold fast
that which is good"
II have undertaken" said the preacher, I" to
touch on some points suggested By the present
disuuiet In our Church or what should be bet.
ter called the present condition OF disquiet IN
the Church at large Whatever doctrinRl dis.
turbance there is IN our own communion
seems to repeat itself in our sister commun.
ions. The whole atmosphere seems w. bs
charged with this mental and doctrinAtMn-
rest. 1t Is In the air. not In the denomin asnp-
cosmic. not local.
have no purpose to descend to the small
details further than is necessary for illustra.
tive purposes. but the best way to handle the
questions before US is to revive our own con-
sciousness Of undisputed points on which the
discussion Of disputed points can rest This
discussion Is not undertaken on account of
any palpitating anxiety as to the result for
things are going to come out all right As the
President OF our seminary (Dr. HAstings)
wrote to me before he left the cItyiast week,
sxult In tho thought that God relgns.' There
is vast quantity of nerve and staying power
In that clause.
We are passing through necessary stage
In the evolution Of divine truth. Storms In
the theological world are rs necessary as they
are in the world at large. This Is q live worm.
whether in the growth OF animal life or IA tho
realm Of religious truth. GROWTH is bound to
produce rupture. II something Rrows. some.
thing must give way. There fs great deal
moro need for prayer when there is no disquiet
In the Church, for inaction is a bad sign In It,
self.
The people whom We are antagonizlng,are
not tricky or malicious-m OF them-ahd
We must learn 10 love our enemies. Tbs
differences between us am, moro con.
stitutional than otherwise. Nutuel sus.
picion OF each others s3hteRriiy is an
obstacle to harmony Ths'aati- -revisionists
think that We are only one-half Christian
because we insist 80 much on revision. while
We are apt to think that tho other side is only
one-half Christian because It doesn't want
revision. RiRht in this connection will toll
you little incident that explains this point.
Our church had cent ont hsbox OF clothing to
pastors family in tho HN<ssk The head ofths
family an uncompromisins, antl-revisionist.
wrote back that he had heard OF our church 40
QfFnnOlv N n Ho InSkt tall,
that revisionists possessed sufficient OF the
grace Of God to care whether peoplS were
clothed or not But he thinks differently noH,
Next to believing fhI GOD. We must beiet0
in one another We needlpve and plenty of it,
II We do not has6itend a great deal Of It
In the next three years the Presbyterian
Church will be veritahis Hades above ground.
But at the samSaums there are certain
positions which soms d. ys bavo taken which
We are going to stand ty and affirm.
W. 'oin9 to do 1t in the Presb yterlsn
Chr .ah; but u not. outside of 1t,
e, We stand BY the union of the
Presbyterian Church, not by excision. but by
comprehension.
There were no theological scales to trx tho
twelve apostles. Their doctrinal views were
broad enough tofhksjn all who had q loving
belief in God.
Princeton says thls is an iI!-advised way,
There would hfTe been no Princeton Theo-
logical Seminary in existence to-day II tho
apostles had looked at 1t as Princeton does.
Tho spirit of such an institution is TO make
theology rs the shoena naker makes pegs. as the
baker turns OF tessskers. all the crackers from
the same dough and with precisely the same
stamp upon thSm. Prlncoton's Idea Of Church
unity Is precisely the same ms the idea In the
Catholic Church: 'The cutting of OF the legs
Of hose Who d6n'tWalk in step. the abscission
Of the heads OF those who don't think In step.'
"One OF the riddles in Church history has
been its treatment OF those who are prophets
OF those who can see where others have not
seen. Show the Church q Door hereto to
sniff at and run down and it is delighted.
There is one moment OF supreme felicity
in the Church when enthusiasm unjtes
in one Stmpaet flame. and that is when
there Is a chance OF getting hereto out OF
the Church. Tho Church never admits the
facts OF science until II has to. In the frontier
between the known and the unknown It acts
as II It were scared. No matter how willing
man may be 10 lay down his life for the truth.
he is hated II he Is possessed OF what they call
'heterodoxy.' 1t Is part OF their religious duty
to kill such mon. just as Saul, who afterward
became Paul. thought when he went up against
the Christians ut Damascus. There were
many different ways Of treating heretics in the
early Christian ages. such as buryinR alive
and burning at the stake. The forms In ex-
istencs now are more esthetis. but the same
queer feeling aotuates men in the Church to-
day. There is not 1.-THE Of the interest In the
redemption OF the world as there Is over the
question what the Church Is 10 do with q
prominent doctrinal suspect
when Prssbytery decided the other day 70
try tho man whose name you all know (Dr.
Briggs) saw one Of the members OF the Pres
bytery smile with smile that was well on to
six inches In breadth. He 10 saint, and
don't want to say anything against him. bus
there Was the same spirit In that smile as there
was In the old Christians who toasted the
heretlcs over fires or tickled their flesh with
hot plncers The Church seems to take an
unholy satisfaction In seeing such man as It
hos decided to try. squirm.
You would naturally have supposed that
before recommending an ecclesiastical trial.
which cannot probably be concluded for years.