The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-01-18
What Some Anglican Divines Believe.

The refusal OF ConvocatiOn to censure the
authors of Lux Mund " has moved thirty
eight Anglican divines to sign and pub
fish "a declaration on the truth OF Holy
Scripture" The siSncrs are headed by the
ex-Dean OF Norwich and the Arclidcacon of
Taunton. the latter Of whom. it will be re-
membered. was one Of the most violent as
sailants OF Essays and Reviews" He also
deplored the failure Of the recent attempt
to stamp the opinions advocated in Lux
Mundi" as heretlcal
These clergymen begin their manifesto
by reciting that the faith Of many Chris
ton people has become unsettled, owing to
the currency of impressions that tho Scrip
lures have been discovered to be unworthy
OF unquestioning credit. They proceed to
deliver their own testimony against such
impressions by declaring their unfcigned
belief In oil the canonical writings Of the
Old and New Tcstamcnts. They believe.
thcy say. that these writings were inspired
by the Holy Ghost; that they are what
they profess to be: that they mean what
| they say; and that they declare incontro-
vertibly the actual historical truth in nll
records both of past events and Of predic-
tons to be thereafter fulfilled. AS IL this
avermcnt were not sufficiently explicit
they go on to say that they believe the
Scriptures, because they have tho authority
of divine revelation; they believe them in
dcpendrntly OF any human approval of the
probability or possibility of their subject
matter; and wholly Independently OF any
human and finite comprehension thereof
Nothing could DO moro sweeping and cat
egorlcal than this profession of faith. We
pust dcduce from it that. In the Judgment
OF Archdeacon DENIsON Of Taunton and his
associates. the account OF the creation
given in Genesis is literally true. both as to
the nature and order OF tho events de-
| scribcd; that man was made at one stroke
ont Of clay. and woman from the rib Of the
man: that the sun goes around tho earth;
that the sun did actually stand still, in
order that tho IDraelites might have light
whcrewith to win Victory: and In short.
that not single statement made In the
Bible has really been rcfuted by modern sci
entiic or historical criticism.
This declaration has provoked vehement
protests from other Anglican clcrgymen.
and Is repudiated by the Tuardiun. which Is
one of the newspaper organs Of the Church
of England. Archdeacon WILSON. writing
to the Times. pronOunces the manifesto tho
most unfortunate. because it Is the most
| extreme Of such joint documents. He con-
s!dcrs it amazing that the signers Of the
paper should have committed themselves
to the atiirmance that they believe indc-
pendcntly Of any human approval Of tho
possibility of an occurrence. In his Opin-
ion. it Is impossible for the abnesation OF
reason to 20 further. But. after all. tho
In, oil fnnt ,f Ln 4,
IN the eyes of ArchdearOn WILSON is not its
rejection Of GODS gift OF reason, but It's
theological arrogance. 1t gives. he says. oc-
casion to the enemies Of the Church to bias
pheme. Take. say the signatories ON peril
of risking your eternal life, tho idea of in
SEPARATION which we thirty-eight have ar
rived at PROSTATE your reason before it.
The Church has not spoken. but We speak.
In other words. these thirty-eight divines
have presumed to try to impose on tho
Church of England their arbitrary view OF
literal and mechanical inspiration. They
would indeed, says Archbishop WILSON. lay
upon their brethren burdens too grevous
to be borne. For no such theory Of inspira-
ton as theirs is recognized by the Church
of England or by any other branch Of tho
Catholic Church. 1t Is unauthorized Is we'll
IS unreasoning.
Arguing on the same side. the Guardian
points out that the declaration has only the
force OF the individual names subscribed to
1t. The signers speak with no authority.
but are simply the mouthpieces OF their In
dividual selves. Attention Is also directed
to the fact that the signatures are for the
most part drawn from the older generation