The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1892-11-02
Religious Quarrels.
New York Herald.

New 1OIh 1leIdlu.
NV Father worketh hitherto, and 1
work.-John, W, Il.
Here we are, once more, in the vor-
tex of the Briggs controversy. No
divine voice has yet uttered the stern
command, "Peace, be stilr' and the
Presbyterian body is vexed with ques-
tions Of heresy.
The business man who takes an in
terest in social reforms, who is troubled
about the strained relations of labor and
capital, who wonders if some benefi-
cent plan cannot be devised to abolish
pinching poverty and the incentives to
crimes which are nourish!ed by itlnto
burglaries and murders, looks upon
this Briggs trial with no attempt to
conceal bis astonishmeut and disgust.
The large majority Of men in this age
regard correct and honest life as more
important than acceptance of creed.
Integrity in business, they declare, is
worth more to the community than an
assent to anybody of theological doc
trine. If a mans creed and his life are
both right, we'll and good; but if be
must needs be heretical on one or the
other, it is better that he should be
wrong in his creed and right in his
life than wrong in his life and right in
his creed.
When we investigate the present
case, therefore, and discover that DR..
Briggs is universally respected as
citizens, friend and father, is admired
as scholar and honored by the fam
lilies who intrust their boys to his
charge for moral training and spiritual
development, and are then informed
that the Presbyterian standard requires
of a man that he shall be just six feet
high, but that DR.. Briggs has a pre-
judice in favor of low heeled shoes and
stands only ives feet eleven and a half,
| and must, therefore, be evicted or
| forcibly elected from the Church,
we begin to ask whether we have our
selves been stricken with sudden insan-
ity or whether the disease has invaded
the General Assembly.
An old gentleman once ventured-a
daring undertaking-to give some ad-
vice to fedgling of minister. He
said: "My dear boy, the matter of
greatest moment is whether you have
an earnest desire to make men better.
That settled, the world needs you.
Don't spend your strength in trying TO
make US straight theologically, for you
can't do it. Americans are bound to
think for themselves, and they regard
it as no crime to differ with the clergy
man. But put all the energy you have
into the attempt to make mea half
decent, for it is a dreadfully wicked
world, and then your ministry will be
worth remembering." When you get
down to hard pan the old gentleman
was quite right. Life is a rather desper-
ate affair, with its greed and avarice,
its appetite for hard cash, its competi-
tions which wrench mans conscience
out Of all recognizable shape, and the
clergyman who doesn't go up in 8
theological balloon, but stays among
US, and mas the courage to assert that
it is better to have clean business
record than to believe in tho Thirty
nine Articles or the Five Institutes, is
the man for the hour, the man to be
loved and followed and respected.
It is safe to say that in these days
and every age has its peculiarties just
as every individual does-there is lit
tie or no interest in theological discus
sion. The influence Of Chaplin, 8
Beecher, a Brooks or Talmage-far
removed as they may be in personal
characteristic-isa distinctively moral
influence. Doctrinal essays, however
scholarly, are as dry as sawdust. And
in this Briggs case the multitude look
on with the feeling that clergymen are
queer class Of beings who don't care
whether the world is going backward
or forward, but who get into a raging
fever Of excitement and passion if one
of their lumber has the audacity to
declare an opinion which hasn't been
received from the Middle Ages.
Suppose that the Presbyterians-and
| other denominations for that matter
were to dismiss the controversy on
creeds on the parliamentary ground
which gives one legislative bill the pre-
cedence Of all others, namely urgency,
and devote themselves to reforming
the patent, awful, grinding and men
acing evils of society, declaring that
they will plough deep until they have
rooted out these wrongs. What should
| we say? Well, we should be surprised,
and perhaps that is the most pungert
and the severest comment we can make
on the churches. Then we should ap-
plaud, for at last religion would 90
''about my Fathers business" Last,
we should give the Church our young
men for its pulpits, and our money for
its encouragement.
But no. We dare expect nothing OF