New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-01-25
DR GREEN AND DIR. BEHRENDS
VIEWS OF MODERN RELIGIOUS THOUGHT

l..
several sermons were preached yesterday the
e,eral subject "The Authority Of the Scriptures"
eeaIng more especially with the controversy caused
- irarc,raI address of Professor Briggs Of Union
Seminary and the 1leresy trial growing out of that
address Dr. Remensnyder of the St James Lutheran
rburch preached the second OF course OF sermons
from an extremely conservative point of view.
professor John Mey, Of the Drew Seminary Metho-
aisD hogan series of sermons TO be given by we'll
,,o,,r theolocians In the Madison Avenue Methodist
r,isconal Church. upon "The Triumph OF the Script
,res over Destructive Criticism" DIR. Miley's theme
was The Agency OF the Holy Spirit the Authorship
~ the SCRIPTURES Another conservative discourse
vas that delivered by Professor W. II. Green, of the
PRINCETON seminary IN the Marble Collegiate Church
ipeformedl i'm series entitled The Bible Under
Fire Or. Green discussed "The Anti-Bblical
Higher Criticism
But the conservatives did not have it all their
own way In a series on The Bible and Modern
Thought" DR.. A. J. +. Behrends, of the Central Con
grcsational Church OF Brooklyn, spoke the Church
Of the Covenant Presbyterlanl. The Bible aud tho
Present Drift OF Religious Thought" while in a
under a similar name at the Church Of the Puritans
Fresbyerian) Professor Marvin II. Vincent discussed
" The Bible and the New Testament Criticism Each
Of thes.- 1--WE men Is entitled to speak with an
authority not accorded 10 every preacher, for they
all discussed themes upon which they have spent
wears of study. DR.. Green and DR.. Behrends repre-
sent distinct schools In their respective denominations
As the moderator Of the Presbyterian General Assem-
bly, DR.. Green in sense, speaks for the denonina-
uon although it is impossible for man 50 extremely
conservative to represent the entire body 1t may
safely be said however, THAI he represents the majority
az the last Assembly, which elected him, and which
vetoed the appointment Of Dr. Briggs by a vote ol
40 to Co. n clergyman who has listened to Dr.
Behrends for several years give. 1t as his oplhlol
that he is the leading Congregatoralist scholar ana
preacher in this country the president Of the American
nd
Of the church not excepted
A CRISIS IN THE CHURCHES.
DR. Green's text was: For had ye believed Moses,
We would have believed me for lie wrote OF me- nu'
if ye believe not his writings how SHALL Se ue"cNo
nv words ~ John V, 46, 40 The following - an
outline of his sermon: &c.,
ehnrchss Of Cnrsendoin than that which they are
called 10 face at present none wni i r "a Sous
And So far-resch Heretofore the contests "iuii ~
the Church have concerned lueS'ihUn f all paes rcog
policy mUe lers moniei'ous pUt AZ ~ S., was
nized one supreme authority. me worn "a i VIZ,
a. to ha Intimately de,Aded. But the Wou Of Goa
Is Itself brought question And ne is'Hs wl'h Is
1,r~ed upon Us is Is the Bible what the Chuicl 's
ahSays believed IL to and what We nave aNa!N @
taught 10 regard il or must le ou N ti,rot INV inv
HihIe be gwen up and new view be SUBSTITUTED lVI
il by wAich It's authority and uust"ortlhe's VIII oc
seriously impaired ,-.o. NM, en-, ,,,,,h If ~
hrnks NJ The Bible made by the enemies OF me hlpe
are no thing Nor is there any mug n rnm Nv
hoy
scholars who have no faith IN the & "dird iG
cannot consistently DO oer%ise ,ln u',Sft i tb"v
hook, Of Moses with the marvellous miracles W'oI IN
record and the accurately fulfilled prophecies "itn
they con.ln The only ing .' IA these ctca con
illusions by Christian schOldis VINO ClHi ~ DC az te
cal in their creed, aud 10 be revereh' s''ueN'7 " ~
"Su Now "a We wish IL distinctly understood at the ontset
r . Tests TO ihe books of scripture and the most
thorough scrutiny their real orls' iu t Oh
es sas t truth II ali antiquity been n srr2I agS
the Jewish people ara tine eTr in beieving that the
Pentateuch the production OF Moses ic' uc '"''
Dc Sod SmOSeh ' cpsbe OF demonstration that Noses
did write the Pentaeuch and that inc oOlruo
y which The " If P4s U sges and to con-
tIavene the explicit testimony OF our LORD III us
ma not me can ot 70 which AK your attention at this
time My object at present x to set beiov you tI n
serent "a matter as ii has been represented to be
whether no Mees wrf fe arst Ve boSa Of the
fbie remain the whoever wrote them and wHen
ev oS and aey equally command our faith whether it Wa
all written in the Mosaic age ana by 'os Itr ar
Az ILLUSTRATION FROM ORDINARY LIFE
But this reasoning leaves out of view the '''ii"H
oonnec,on between the commences OF the production
and ia truth and authority. 1t Is NOT a'conh'eN "
matter Of Indifference In the AFFAIRS OF ordinary NC
whether legal instrument. claiming 10 be au'ho''No
mr. commercial paper purporting 10 represent gwen
vahe has proceeded from the proper authority ana
l.,her the signature which IL bears IS genuine. II
i, s not from the source that it claims TO be- ana te
.cnature attached 10 it 10 falls, IL Is not worm u'e
pap oses WE Commissioned messenger from the Mot
High ms aod y ,e IN. pred writer's Of tie
ahindautly confirm the claim VI the feilaIucn ~ W
isiv sach 10 ii the name OF Moses Moses says
Moses wrote the Law Of Moses etc'' cW. a. :, ."
~Uu ,,h II y0, detach these books FROM Moses as
ther author YOU thereby detach them uhT"lso Nm
sJ6 M occept what Moses taught and what Moses com
mAnded IL these not the teaching, OF AiVso III
t,ese commands are not hi, their sancNOh Is wiz"
Much bas been said Of late abont the absolute IN
errancy Of the original autographs OF ncIp'uIr d,
though the question at issue al Pe7ent NJ, natter
minute aecuraey IN uS Inot %4 oIipa no longer
w existence was mere Inference IRON ter
,9derstsuding Of the real gravity Of tine ca,e me
actual Issue which is now before inc e'an nd fr
Churches Of Chn.tendom Is far more seII0!s ana iI
Il a 1SestiSn of the historical truth and tie divine
e ar s yta q fns 2f assWoy ' # the
in set forth are tue and real II i. beyqnd qu1sCD are ar,
actitions the revelation itself Is unreal H.. won't,
The particular point to yheh .ar wsh Of - the cr
hypothesis respecting the Pen'ateuch upon ~ yin
orcal truth and Consequently q e common and vel
sttested belief upon this subject Most name %ee
author Of those books when ,eT D controversy
let look at The actual Gperauon OF o., E,enen and
hypothesis and That not III thc i'f"9 ,,ougel
Wehausen but OF thO.e no call easeivse ., d.
cal critic. We shall leave out Oh view the Ihoio ",
structiye specatiOns and infere9ccs Of l ,oi & ~,
confnc ourselves To those consequence "i rnnd H.
sepaabe from the hyp0the,s hO"csti ~ tneCt
advocates % present 1t In the most favorable @P'''
possible. $500 -, a.hod. ~ the
Che speaker here anaSzed the methods 0i W. W.
higher critics showing what they meant ~ usato ~
letters i s. ID and T. j. is t4c writer WnO IrIeiN !"
God A. Iehovah g. prefers instead TO call INN fli
d. IS the writer OF Deuteronomy, white r. = u.e pii
writer who wrote the greater part Oi inc ceh'.hUii
Law J. and f. are conceived 70 be the oiue't % IN
documeuts The Rev. Dr. Driver oil OXFORD rl. rt
whose Introduction TO the Ietdto "a c w.. sdit1yia
meut7 has recently published uiaeT te eI1o n
supervision Of Briggs, Of New, orH ~ anu rd =
SamOnd OF Aberdeen scotland, tells Us that D. anu To-
!. "a d