Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-06-20
ORTHODOXY ATTACKED.
REV. NJ F. DRYDEN TELLS WHY he LEFT
TIE METHODIST CHURCH.
He Presents His Views Upon the Trinity, the
AOnsment the Resurrection and Future
RetributOn.

The announcement that Rev. NJ. F.
Dryden, a former pastor of the North
Street NJ. E. church in this city, and
later pastor of an NJ. Z. church at Nor
gantown, would deliver lecture upon
his reasons for leaving the ministery Of
the Methodist Episcopal church served
to draw a good sized audience at Odd
Fellows Hall yesterday afternoon-sOme
attracted out of mere curiosity to hear
what he would say, and others sympa-
thizing with him, and holding the same
views in regards to orthodoxy. The
usual preliminary services were followed
and then Rev. Dryden began his dis
course. He talked earnestly and argu-
tentatively for about an hour and
quarter. He said:
owe are to-day in the midst OF a
great conflict, infinitely more severe
than was ever waged at Marathon, at
Waterloo, or Bunker Hill. 1t is the
conflict of ideas, and the contending
forces are light and darkness, truth
and error, the church of Jesus Christ
and the combined forces of evil. And
il is the business of every true man TO
stand in his appointed place and con-
tend earnestly for the faith once de-
Gyered by the saints, With this deep
conviction Of duty l come now to con-
slider the question Of the hour. 1t is
easy to be misunderstood, especially on
religious questions. The best men
have been misunderstood and misrepre-
scented in every age. Lest any one
should receive a wrong impression as to
my purpose in delivering this address,
I desire to say here and now that / am
not here to aSsail any church, attack
any creed in particular, TO quarrel with
any one because of his religious belief,
nor force my convictions on another.
am not here as the
CHAMPION OF ANY ISM
or the representative of any creed other
than that embraced In the scriptures.
come simply to answer the question why
I left the ministry of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and to correct GER
tain misapprehcnsions in regard to this
matter. l took the step because after
along the lines Of Scripture eXegesis
and Patristic literature l found myself
in conflict with the theological authorl-
ties of the Church. l do not claim TO be
infallible. Neither were the fathers in
fallble, and pay them Difference only
so long as they give me the truth.
When they cease to do this We part
company. Such being the condition OF
things there was but one honorable
course 10 pursue, namely, voluntarily
surrender my credentials, take teSti-
mOnialS Of my Presiding Elder and OH
cial Board as to my standing in the
Church, and retire, which l did. l left
the Methodist Church because | was un-
willing longer TO fetter my brain with
the dOgmaS of orthodoxy | would
rather be right than be orthodox, and 10
have an untrammeled intellect than to
have position and emOlumentS.
I no longer believe in the orthodox
dogma Of the Trinity, for the following
reasons First, it is irreconcilable with
the absolute unity of God, which in it.
self is a necessity of thought and foun-
dation stone of the entire Christian sys-
tenn. Reason demands the existence of
one God. Reason demands the exist
ence of only one God, which fact cannot
be reconciled with the orthodox doc
trine. The doctrine of tri-unity is no.
where positively taught in the Scrip
lures, nowhere strongly implied. The
strongest passage urged in support OF
this dogma, namely, There are three
that bear record in Heaven-the Faith
er, the Word and the Holy Ghost,
aud these three are one; there
are three that bear witness on earth
the Spirit, the Water and the Blood,
and these three agree in one" is an in
terpola alton. 1t did not appear in any
Greek manuscript earlier than the ilf-
teenth century IL did not appear in
any Latin manuscript of the Scrip
lures earlier than the ninth century. 1t
does not appear in any manuscript Of
the old Syriac version, and Martin
Luther in tEanslating the Greek Tesla
ment into German omitted itaS spurious.
We believe in the
DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST.
We do not believe in His deity. No
inspired writer, if fairly interpreted,
can be made to teach that Christ was
absolute God, and equal with the Father.
On the other hand, they everywhere
affirm His SubOrdinatiOn TO and depen-
dence upon God the Father. The same
fact Christ also declared concerning
Himself. According to His own testi-
..-..r- II, 6;1 NOT pOssaSs thOSp 9ttributeS