The record-union., 1892-09-24
IN RELIGIONS REALM.
Expressions From the Various Re-
ligieus Newspapers.

liSiouS NCWSpdpCIS.
The Religious Thought of the Day as
Expressed in the Sectarian Press
Some Matters of Interest to Both
Ministers and Laymen.
Zone of the most startling evidences of
the demoraliZing effect of keeping the
Prayer Book SO long in solution,' re-
marks the LiOing Church (P. E. of Chi
cago, lis the proposition now made, and
eborately argued by some of our church
papers, to repudiate the Thirty-nine Ar
ticles, or failing in that, to throw them
out OF the prayer book and print them as
a separate book. If they cannot kill
theEl, they will bury them alive! It is
seriously proposed, after public agree
ment OF all parties, that revision shall go
no further, to throw out large and i'm
portant section of the book, and by the
action of a single convention! By joint
resolution change is to be wrought
vastly greater in extent and importance
than all the changes that have been made
by the action of these General Conven-
tons. We do not suppose that the plan
will be seriously entertained by the con-
ventlon, but the mere announcement of
IL III papers of high standing is serious
enough to awaken alarm. We have not
time now to discuss the reasons alleged in
favor of such movement. We may do
this later. Whatever may be the reasons
Tor the proposed elimination of the ar
ucles, the church will not allow it to be
done in this way"
1T is sign of the true craftsmanship
OF the Bishops, both the American and
Anglican" the New York ChurcbD1d91
". H.. thinks, that they refuse to be en-
tangled III any net of denOminationalism
and this, as we have suggested, is the sig
nlhcance Of their eloquent silence as to
The thlrty-nlne articles in their recent
pastoral or Synodical letters. 1T is surely
remarkable,' says Charles Gore, Princi-
pal OF the Pussy House, how the Bishops
take their stand, not so much on the arUi-
cles as on the Catholic creeds and Episco-
pal councilS-not, that is, on a document
which represents rather the best compro-
mise which could be arrived at logically,
at time when questions were not ripe
for settlement, but upon the mature and
abiding decisions of the whole church,
To speak plainly to regard the articles of
religion as the foundation of the church
would be nothing more than denomina-
tionalism. They were in no sense senti-
ment; they were the expression of re-
action, and like all reactions, partly ex-
aggerated and partly inadequate, and,
above all, negative. The Bishops are the
rulers of the church and not of denom-
nation"
1.-THE discussion awakened by Pro-
lessor Briggs attack upon the inerrancy
of Scripture has brought forth many rash
utterances," says the New York OBJ
SerUeT (Pres.), "but not none so foolish
and perilouS as the assertion, The Script
ureS contain errors, but no error That
is, there are imperfections of form, mis-
takes in detail, but these do not hinder
the Bible from being as a whole an in
fallible authority, safe rule of faith and
practice. And this is claimed to be a
necessary inference from the presence of a
human element in the Scripture since the
men through whom the Holy Ghost spoke
were ignorant and sinful, and therefore a
certain amount of imperfection must at
tend their words. The only escape from
such conclusion, it is said, is the theory
of dictation, or that the writers of Script
ure were as passive as a musical instru-
ment in the hands Of one who plays it.
This claim is absurd. That the PEN
men of inspiration were active and con-
scious in their work, and that they
preserved all their personal, social
and national peculiarities, is clear on
the face of the Scripture; and what was
there to hinder the Divine Spirit from
so guiding prophets and apostles in what
they wrote as that there should be no
mix ture of error in the work of their
hands2 Who dares to say that such a
thing is impossible? The very glory of
revelation is that it has used so many
and such various human media, and vet
has avoided the shortcomings that be-
long to all other works of man. To in
sist that this cannot be is needlessly and
profanely to limit the power of God. Yet
we are told with confidence that there
cannot be a human element without
errors. There was human element in
the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Was He, therefore, subject to error?
There are those who affirm this. but
hitherto they have been found only
among open enemies of the Gospel. 1t
is one Of the sad signs Of the times that
even some numbered among evangelical
men discuss the limitations of our Lords
knowledge a euphemism for His liability
to error"
''There are many good people who get
Independent Now and then one or an
other proposes TO abolish them. They
say sermons are long, uninteresting, tire
some and therefore improbable. They
do not complain that the rest of the serv-
ice is irkSome; they like the singing and
the responsive reading, and they do not
object to the prayers; but the sermon,
they say, makes church-going a heavy
duty, and they do not enjoy it. In some
cases the preachers are at fault. They
preach too long, and their sermons lack
the prime essentials of Gospel sermons.
But in general it is the hearer, rather than
the preacher, who is chiefly responsible
for dry time. He goes to church
to be entertained. He does not 90
eager for instruction, encouraee-
ment, direction. He does not 90
hungering and thirsting for spir-
itual truth, with the feeling that he is
about to enjoy great privilege; but he
goes because he thinks it is the thing to
do, and hopes the sermon will be short
and have plenty Of incident to enliven it.
He does not expect much, however. and
so he does not fix his attention, does not
concentrate his faculties on the subject.
but takes Istless attitude. If the SER
mon contains nothing particularly strik-
ing he gets little or none of it; if a story
or an illustration, humorous or pathetic,
pierces his indifference and stirs his at
IeHIIOu he cOLileS away Win the impress
sion that the pastor made one good point
to-day. Otherwise, his thoughts drift as
idly as though he were lying in ham,
mock at home, with all his mental pow
ers relaxed, and nothing 10 demand his
attention. The little he hears of the SER
mon in this mood rather bores him, and
he thinks preaching might as well be
abolished"
'sThere is, we are aware.,a disnosition
to disparage preaching nowadays saws
the New York Examiner (Bapt.l, land to
accord it subordinate place in the sery-
ices of the Lords House. IF the Dreachar