The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1893-06-10


srASDAKD, s12 Hennepin Avenue" will receive
Immediate attention.
SATURDAY, JUNE 10. 1898.
sEcTARIAN INTOLERANCE.
By q majority vote DIR. Briggs has
been suspended from the Presby terrain
ministry on charge of heterodoxy ''un-
til such time as he shall give satisfac-
tory evidence of repentance" The de.
posed clergyman has not yet given the
slightest evidence OF being sorry for gfv-
ing expression to his honest, conscienti.
GUS opinions on the Bible and the West
minister Confession of faith. He would
not be true Protestant if he yielded his
right of private Interpretation of the
Scriptures, and like DIR. Colenso, Prot.
Swing and other noted heretics Of mod
ern times he will remain outside the fold
of the church which has treated him so
arbitrarily. The majority Of the rehgi-
GUS and secular journals of the country
sympathize with DIR. Briggs and stigma
tie his censors as being no less than
prosecutors. BY their vote they have
destroyed as much as they can the
very foundation on which Professionalism
rests-the right of every individual to
interpret the Bible according to his
own private Judgment. DR.. Briggs by
his recognized scholarship is more com
potent to draw legitimate conclusions
from the Scriptures than any of the min
listers who acted as jurors on his trial.
Over one hundred of them voted for his
acuuittal, but to be consistent they
should follow him out of the church. IT.
stead Of doing so, they remain behind to
preach doctrine they disbelieve, and for
no apparent reason than to retain their
positions and draw their salaries. Minis
tors of religion who act that way are
wolves in sleeps clothing and deserve to
be deepised. The Presbyterian church,
for it's own protection and preservation,
ought to expel them, for they sustain a
man whom it has found guilty of heresy,
and they are consequently heretics them
selves. A preacher in Albany, N. Y, has
already left the church because OF the
expulsion Of DR.. Briggs, and it is said his
flock will follow him. 1t looks as it q
division in the church is imminent and
that many leading clergy and intelli-
gent laymen will leave the narrow creed
established by Calvin and his contem-
poraries, unless it is revised. The doc
trine Of predestination, which is one OF
the articles of the Presby terian creed, is
abhorrent to every reasonable man.
That God creates some persons to be
saved and others to be damned, despite
all efforts to attain salvation, is q mon
strous doctrine which should find no
place in any Christian creed. The sooner
the Presbyterians reject that odious arti-
Gle in the Westminster Confession, the
longer will their church survive. Dr..
Briggs believes in progressive sanctifica-
tom after death. That resembles the
Catholic doctrine OF Purgatory and is q
most rational belief. We are surprised
thst DR.. Briggs remained in the Presby-
terian church until he was forcibly ex-
PEELED. Father Lambert, in the Phila-
delphia Catholic Times, has . leading
article on the Briggs trial in which that
famous controversialist says: Aside
from the question OF consistency, and a
considering DR.. Briggs doctrine i IN it
ell, We believe he ID right. The Catho-
lie believes that all authority is in rea-
ron and In the Church, and he says with
st. Augustine, would not believe the
SScriptures it the Church did not tell me
they are divine The Bible Is to Christi
nifty what the Constitution g to the
United States government - more writ
I'm esyIiit1lenoe of 8 living thing And the y.
Z! x,,stholic Church IS Christ II to he.
|Bibls wlat the sulpreane Court i % tle
xons &c ion; ths 81 md OIL
this tiiiference eve,
thst viii idi ths 1ity g Ga ~
i II, q ourt 8 fiction The
m llilIi &c ,hlurrlh Z ddiiyiney
,ss me- does not
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