New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1894-05-16
MORE OF CREED AND REASON
The Review Correspondent Continues His
Reply to the Attacks ofMr. Sheran.

In proceeding to further tort1ty MS
sscatholic standpoint" and crush with
his pet creed the audacious Review cor
respondent, Mr.. Sheran once more makes
an appeal to ancient sepulchres and the
ghastly apparitions of fifteen hundred
years ago are brought forward to over
awe and paralyze the minds of the liv-
ing. From the abandoned ways of anti
uuity must come the information which
the living are unable to supply, and it
seems to be recognized rule that the
deader the authorities the better for the
creeds.
Tertullian, Justin Clemens, Cyprian,
Ignatius, Nestorus and Theophilus-
these are the men whom MrSheran sum-
mons in holy con,lav and to whom he
says: sour cast-iron and favorite creed
has been assailed; they tell US that the
Bible is not responsible for the Trinity
Doctrine, and as you know all about it,
and all about the Bible, pray gi i've us
some light on this all important subject" "
Accordingly they give .heir exper" tssti-
anony, one after another. To us of the
present time it sounds much like the raw
ing of unsettled minds, but what more
could we expect from minds that have
been dead for 1900 years? And having
discharged their duty as lnfallible auth
critics they are allowed to relapse into
their protracted slumber, and the man
from St. Thomas Seminary is left lone
figure upon the scene to complete the
victory thus 1naugurated.
He follows up the citations from these
authorities with statement which runs
like this. 'Since your correspondent
is affirms that the Bible
not r.spousible for this doctrine, we will
give it a chance to speak for ITSELF"
Here he quotes the seventh verse of the
fifth chapter of 1st John as follows:
+'And there are three who give testimony
in heaven: The Father, the Word and
the Holy Ghost, and these three are one"
Then he adds: 'Is this text not explicit
enough? Can language be more explicit?
Are not both the Trinity and Unity Of
God therein taught?"
But hold on. There is something the
matter with the 7th verse of the 5th
chapter of John 1st-something which
they don't seem to have learned at St.
Thomas Seminary. And in regard to
this matter will let Prof. Rydberg fur
nish the facts. He commences 10y citing
the following words from DR.. Neander:
The Trinity doctrine does not belong
to the essentials of Christian faith, which
is evident from the fact. that it is not in
one single instance expressly taught in
the New Testament, the only place where
it appears in the words about the three
who give testimony Il John 5, y being
obviously spurious.'' Luther in his
translation of the Bible was so firmly
convinced of the Interpolation ct these
words, that he left them out and public
ly protested against tive words being in
serted afterwards on his authority. For
fifty years after, the words referred to
did not appear in the issues of the Bible
of that church, but later on they COM
menced to take them in again, first in
parenthesis, then in different type, until
gradually courage increased and all dis
tinct1ons between the Interpolation and
the rest of the text disappeared. At
present the Bible of the Lutherans con.
tains John, 5, 7, the same as does the
catholic book.
Now what does it mean that a verse
in the Bible is spurious? The original
form of this verse as it appeared in the
genuine Greek original was as fellows
There are three who bear testimony,
the spirit, the water and the blood and
the three are one" In the changed form
as it appears in the Catholic Bible it
reads: "There are three who bear testi-
mony in heaven, the Father, the Word
and the Holy Ghost and these three are
one, and there are three who give testi-
mony on earth, the spirit, the water and
the blood, and the three are one..''
The original Greek handwrit1ngs are
two in kind-the uncial documents,
which as rule are the oldest, being
written in exceedingly old-fashioned let
ters the same as were usedfor inscriptions
on buildings and monuments, and. the
minuskel handwlitings, written in later
style of letters. OF the uncial handwritings
five exist which contain the apostolic
epistles. The Oldest of these are the