The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-01
DR.. NEWToN'S ORTHODOXY.
1T MAY BE QUESTIONED N VIEW
OF RECENT UTTERANCES.

OF RECENT UTTERANCES.
He Makes nm Explanation of His Re-
I pudiatiOn of a Physical ResurFec-
ton, and Explains Why lie Rejects
the Commonly Accepted View of
the subject.
/ From the New York Herald. April .
All Souls church, at the corner OF Mad
I ison avenue and SiNiy-siNth street. was
crowded yesterday morning. IN the seats.
In the aisles. IN the vestibules. by those
anxious 10 hear the rector. the Rev. Dr.
r. Heber Newton. who had announced
that he would preach on his reasons or
belief in the resurrection Of Christ. Deep
interest was felt in the subject because
of the criticism which has been provoked
by DR.. NewtOn's sermon a week before.
when he denied the doctrine which he
said the church had always held con-
corning the resurrection Of the body.
\ sensation was created when the Rev.
DR. A. w. Henshaw. the curate. at the
rector's request, just before the sermon.
stepped forward and read a statement
from DR.. Newton, in which the latter
said:
Some Of you were absent last Sunday
morning and failed 10 hear what l then
had to say. Your Impressions of what I
said as gathered from the reports in the
papers during the week, may have con-
veyed to you a most erroneous impress
sion OF that sermon. Those OF you who
are present may now distrust your men,
cries and, therefore be somewhat dis
turbed by these same reports.
Il am renewedly surprised at the dis
position of intelligent and educated men.
who have outgrown the superstition Of
the infallibtltty Of the pope but who in
sist on the infallibility Of the repor ter.
Men who will challenge without any hes
ttancy the inerrancy Of the Holy Scrip
turc will acQuiesCe AZ once in the iner-
rancy Of the stenographer.
Many men evidently read the report of
my sermon with the suggestion placed in
their minds by the headlines of that re-
port; Not Jesus Christs Body Mr.
Newton disCardS the Christian theory OF
the resurrection, and so read into that
report what was thus suggested to them
as its meaning. Had that report been
headed accurately, Jesus Christs True
Body Mr. Newton disCards the popular
theorizing about the resurrection. but at
firms his belief in the reality of that resur-
rection.' there would have been little
trouble
"As / understand it. the trouble grows
out of what am assumed TO have said
. on three points: First Concerning the teS-
timony of the disciples themselves. W hat
/ sought to say, and what l did say, was
somcthingto this effect; That the disciples
in becoming conscious OF the appearances
of Jesus to them, were inevitably driven
TO interpret those appearances in the only
way open TO them according to the
thought prevailing in that age. They re-
solved the appearances Of the risen Jesus
into an appearance Of the body of flesh
and bones. Allowance must, therefore, be
made for the natural and inevitable in
depreciation necessitated by their preSup
positions of such mystery.
"SecOndly-In speaking of the under
80 IA Uaar Fuffh % lan heA
church, what | said was that this inter-
probation of the belief was uuquestiOn
able; that the Interpretation given by the
majority of tho people in the church to-
he he people II, n the sh%5c l3- IN
peared in the body of flesh and blood This
popular Interpretation of the church's
language thus comedies with the interpre-
tatiOn given by the disciples themselves,
As an Interpretation of the language OF
the creeds it is however, non-authorita-
tive.
guage of the church. it was pointed out
That the only utterances OF the crCeds
were, in the Apostles creed, The third
| day ne arose again from the dead and in
/ the Nicene creed. The third day He arose
| again. according to the Scriptures. As /
! then pointed out, this language may i'm
ply the Interpretation assumed by the
/ primitive disciples. and by the popular
/ opinion in the church, but IL does not neces-
sarily imply it. 1t certainly does not af-
/ firm II.
''The Thirty-nine Articles, with the CON
! fidence characteristics of this body of di-
| vlnity. insists that the risen Jesus APP
| peared in the body OF flesh and bones;
| creeds stand out in refreshing contrast
! to such dogmatism. l claim the right to
interpret for myself the language of the
creeds to which | yield my unfeigned as
This is certainly what l said or what
l tried to say-perhaps failing to make
it as clear as ii was in my own mind.
unfortunately, | cannot appeal in
veriflcation of this claim to my manu-
script, for I have none. The sermon was
preached from the briefest notes. which
are utterly useless as verifying my Ian
mon is in my hand as write this. That
/ il sustains my claim above will, 1 think
be clear from its report of the cruciN
passage in my sermon, which l give as
!" FINALLY. it will be1safd that the creeds
| of the church affirm thistle resurre;.-
ton of the flesh in its literal sense This
| deny, absolutely. The third day ne
rose again from the dead" the third
day he rose again according to the Scrip-
tures'-such is the language of the Apos-
ties Greed. such the language of the Nj
Gene Greed. Each is plainly
ton which give. He rose
again. His resurrection was witnessed
than this, is essential TO the language OF
! the creed
Il have not changed my base, one of
my clerical friends suspects. occupy
the same position on this doctrine which
! ! have occupied for years on other doe
/ trines. | deny no article of the Creeds
assent to the Creeds. | affirm them. NV
Interpretation of them is my interpre-
tation of them which is all that any man
can say, which any man has a right 10
. say, which no man has a right 70 deny
which no body of men (as l understand
| III has a right to deny
eff the liberty of Interpretation of the
creeds is denied. all intellectual liberty
is denied herewith 1t will be bad day.
| indeed for the church when such a stand
| is taken.
Il can only wonder that my brethren
/ of the clergy are so quick always to note
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