The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-01-31
THE WEATHER.
LUX MuNDI.

the clergy or the CnuFcH VI E1uSAoho
there are still left thirty-six that have
not bowed the knee to Baal. A weak
kneed %convocation may have failed IN
it's bounden duty to censure the here
sies OF lux mundi. Popular opinion
opinion may stamp their failure with its
approval, but, while this gallant band OF
the Sunco guild" shall live and move and
have their being, they will continue to
heave their little straws and try to dam
the torrent of modern h~eterodoxy. Sad
to say, their zeal outruns their discre-
ton. We have never heard that the
flies which buzz on the wheels of mod
ern progress have done much to impede
their advance. They buzz their little
buzz, and there is an end OF it and OF
them. Such, we arc sadly afraid, IS the
fate reserved for this rigidly orthodox
.declaration on the truth Of Holy Scrip
ture."
The declaration begins with an ex-
preston of deep regret. The tender
lambs are wandering from the fold.
They are no longer simply attentive to
the voice Of the pastor. Wolves in doc
ters' gowns and German hoods have
wiled them from the truth, assuring
them that the scripture is not to be un-
a~uestioningly believed. But all is not
vet lost. If the example of the thirty
six availeth aught, much may yet be ac-
complished. Learned mon that they
are, they cherish unhesitating belief in
each and every one Of the canonical
writings of the Old and New Tesla
ments. 1t is a comfort to doubling
souls to know that these wise men be-
lieve that the scriptures are exactly
what they profess to be, that every
record in their pages is historical fact,
that every prediction will be literally
fulfilled, that they mean exactly what
they say. Who shall henceforth attack
the inerrancy Of the bible, when the
mandate of the thlrty-siA covers it with
their own authority and that of divine
revelation? Possibility, probability,
these must be left out of account. HUI
man understanding kicks the beam.
Such a manifesto implies a thoroughly
healthy state of the mental digestive
apparatus, does it not? Everything
goes. St. Peter himself, with his fas-
tidious tastes, stands once more rebuked
in the presence of the thirty-six. No
streaming at gnats here. Gnats, camels,
all are welcomed. The earth was made
in seven literal days, geology notwith-
standing. Jonah interfered with the
organic functions of a great big fish for
three days and three nights. The sun
is a satellite of the earth, and, upon oc-
~casions, works overtime to see a we'll.
fought scrimmage. Man was made Of
actual clay and woman from a rit
thereof. Modern criticism and modern
science are simply yelping ours, if they
venture to assall one iota of the whole
record.
What does it all amount to? Here
are thirty-six clergymen who are willing
to trample every vestige of their reason
under foot in this particular instance
They are. for the most part, men vel
advanced in life and men who hav'
never given any one the ~faintest groun'
for suspicion that they had made a spe
cial and critical study of the scripture
in the light Of modern research. Cel
tainly, they are entitled to hold thei
own opinions on all such matters. n
one wishes to gainsay them the priv
lege. But when they attempt to lay tn
burden of their own belief upon tn
shoulders of their church, to force dow
it's throat their own ideas of inspiration
TO exact from every member of the:
own communion a confession of a liter;
and mechanical inspiration of the scri]
lures, they are guilty of an arroganc
that is only equalled by their lack
scholarly equipment for tho CRITICS
they have undertaken. Bat flies wi
buzz. It is their nature.