Connecticut western news., 1893-06-08
LYMAN ABBOTT TOO.
HE JOINS DR. BRIGGS IN THE NEW
 THEOLOGY.

From the Pulpit of Plymouth Church He
 Declares That the Bible Is Not the Word
 of God, and That Dr. Briggs Is a Modern
 Prophet-The Professors Suspension.
 NEW YORK, June 5.-"The Bible is not
 the word of God" declared the Rev. Dr.
 Lyman Abbott in Plymouth church, Brook
 lyn. Dr. Abbott was preaching on the
 Briggs case. and he referred to Dr. Briggs
 as modern prophet,n fit to rank with
 the prophets of the Bible. .5
 His text was from Romans iv, s-14:
 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will
 not impute sim" It was an eloquent ser
 mon. The approach to the Briggs climax
 was made step by step with logical acumen
 and convincing force. When at last 1t was
 reached this is what Dr. Abbott said:
 ''In 1891, in his inaugural address, on
 taking the Biblical chair in the Union
 Theological seminary, Dr. Briggs said: Tt is the testimony of human experience, in all ages, that God manifests Himself to men
 and gives certainty of His presence and au-
 thority.
 And for that statement then made he
 was last week declared unworthy any long
 CT to preach the gospel in Presbyterian pull pits.
 "Neverl Then Abraham and Isaac and Jacob were not led to saving knowledge of Godl Then Moses and David and Joshua
 and Isaiah were not led to a saving knowl-
 edge of Godl For they all lived before
 there was any holy Scripture by which
 they could be led to him.
 "Infdell What is infidelf What if not
 this: To deny that God is in his world to-
 dayf What if not this: To deny that there
 is any way of coming to God except the one door that has never been opened save to
 limited number of the human racef "Hereticl What is heretic, if not this, To declare that God is not the father of all mankind, and leaves no door of access to himself save the one door of written
 word that was not free to all the human race that longed and cried and prayed for him for 5000 yearsS
 A Modern Prophet.
 "In your name and in the name of all
 that believe in a living God dwelling in the
 hearts of his children today, thank this prophet, successor of the prophets of olden | time, that in all these two years of cruel | trial he has never receded from his one po- sition, never used words in doubtful sense, never retracted his one assertion, but has stood firmly and faithfully against all | oppressors by this fundamental doctrine | that God is in the heart of the individual and in the heart of his church, and he is re- vealed in the pages of his Bible. The Bible is the word of Godp Oh, | beg your pardon, the Bible is not the word l of God. I challenge any man who calls the | Bible the word of God to find that phrase, | The word of God ever used in the Bible. "I will take the creed if it will help me fnf nd | xrfI fol ha | will help me to a deeper and larger sympa- | thy and better understanding of that | spiritual consciousness which has bound l all ages, from the days of Abraham to the days of Phillips Brooks.
 But, God helping me, I will let no man | put the church between me and God or | l>ut the Bible between me and God or put creed between me and God or all three as a three barred gate between me and God" | WASHINGTON, June 2.-Today finds Dr, | Briggs outside the Presbyterian church. | The penalty imposed on him by the general | assembly is suspension from the ministry | of that denomination.
 His reply to his judges after sentence was passed was: "I adhere to all the positions
 taken before the general assembly, and l have nothing to say save that the appellee | reserves all rights and that the general as- sembly should take the exclusive responsi- | bility for any further action.n
 He also told them of his irrevocable de- termination to abide by the declarations
 made in his address before the general as- | sembly in his defense and to continue to | teach the doctrine there avowed The protest against the action of the as-
 sembly in the case of Professor Briggs re-
 ceived the signatures of 63 commissioners
 and that against the action upon the inspi- | ration of the Bible about 100