The Portland daily press., 1892-07-26
ORGANIZED CRUSADE.
Said to Be Di rected Against Andoyer Semi
nary Professors.
New York Times.]

New York Times.l
BOSTON, July 23.-It is becoming
evident that there is a deliberate and or
ganized crusade against the Andover
Seminary professors made by the ultra
conservative men in the Congregational
denomination from the criticism of the
administration of the American Board
to a condemnation of the instructors in
the seminary.
The facts which support this belief are
numerous. For the last two months the
conservative journals, the Advance OF
Chicago, the Independent Of New York.
and the Religious Herald OF Hartford,
have been reiterating the old arguments
against the seminary professors, charg-
ing them with lack of honor in holding
their chairs while unable to accept the
seminary creed. The last number of the
Advance contains an article by the Rev.
DR.. A. H. Plumb, of this city, one OF the
members of the Prudential committee of
the American Board, who uses such
terms as the following in his article on
ssAndover Ethics namely, immortality
of the perversion Of the Andover funds
s'deplorably-corrupting influence of such
a crime,'' 'ssophisticate pleas of intrusted
professors or of biased Trustees. etc.
DR.. Plumb sums up his trade thus:
Making all due allowances for honest
differences concerning departures from
the faith, which are sometimes SO grad
nal as to be almost insensibly made, and
which are often very various in degree,
still, may it not safely be affirmed that
when all the disturbing influence shall
have passed away which now render
difficult in some minds an unbiased
opinion upon this memorable and mel
ancholy case, the settled judgement OF
most men will be that the attempt to
teach the theology of Andover Review
by men who every five years swear to
teach the theology of the Andover Creed,
and are paid to do that alone, is SO fla
grant breach of truth that stigma of
dishonor may be affixed for all time to
everything that bears the name of An
dover, the very name itself coming to be
recognized throughout the length and
breadth of the land as suggestive and sig
nificant of a low moral sense?"
DR.. Storrs, Superintendent of the
American Board, in his second long let
ter in the Independent sheered off from
the main question at issue, it seems, and
devoted most of his efforts to an attempt
to prove that it was useless for An
dover Seminary to attempt to change the
archaeological position of the board, APP
| parently intending to convey to the pub
| lie that it was for that that the minority
are now fighting, whereas the position
now at issue, which has drawn out
the severest adverse criticism of the Pru-
| dental Committee, body whose action
| Dr. Storrs now defends from conserva-
tive journals and men, is one questioning
| the honesty and fairness in the interpre-
tation and execution of the instructions
of the board given to the Prudential
| Committee at the Minneapolis meeting.
| The real questions at issue are not
stated by the July 18th Andover Review
| in its dignifed reply to Dr. Storr' second
letter, as follows:
Have members of the churches that
sustain the board, members in good and
regular standing in their fellowship, who
accept their creeds of acknowledged
weights, and who offer themselves for
service, and are otherwise qualified, a
right to acceptance by the board, and to
| be sent out as funds permit? Have the
churches which support the board, a right
to regard it as their agent, in giving to
men the faith they received? Dr.. Storrs
practically answers these questions in
| the negative and without discussion. 1t
| 1.-THE Prudential Committe) will not &C
| cept as missionaries men whom the
churches honor as pastors. 1t under
takes to prsxoxibe what shall be held
upon the questions of the higher criti-
cism and tenets of philosphy-upon the
| infallibility of scripture and the natural
immortality of thu. soul-and makes its
| the standard as to what is of faith and
| what is not, and sets up as tests of COM
potency to preach the Gospel require
ment which are incompatible with
modern scholarship and methods Of