The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-11-20
THE HIGHER CRITICISM.
Rev. Mr.. Shepherd Replies to DIR. Blanch-
ards Sunday Sermon.
To the Editor of the Press:

In Mondays issue of your excellent
paper appeared abstracts of two sermons
on the Higher Criticism. AS DR..
Blanchard's sermon Is opposed to mine,
it seems well to consider it in detail. 1t
seems that when the lesso n WAS read at
Congress Square on Sunday morning,
an extract from the Yale lectures by the
Rev. r. E. Horton Gan English Congre-
gationalist) was read. 1t is as follows: VI
81 say there is no foundation in the
Bible itself. for the common practice Of
speaking of 1t rs the Word of God"
After advising people to ask believers
in that doctrine certain questions, he
says, If 'they are honest they "are
bound to admit that the usage is with
out Soriptural authority; if they are dis
honest, they W i'll angrily turn upon those
who put the question and denounoe them
as infldels.''
OF course it does not follow that Mr..
Horton S assertion settled the matter.
What surprises me is that such twaddls
could be uttered by the pastor of Con-
gress Square church. who prides himse II
on his reason, ]iberality, and courtesy.
1t Is unfortunate that few facts were
not presented with this English Con-
gregationalis is assertions, because men
are not convicted of dishonesty OF
thought or act, in this country, without
proof.
1t would seem that this man belongs
to certain class of Englishmen, who
leave their manners at home when they
come to this country. Perhaps he tried
to see just how big game of bluff he
could play to fool the Yankees.
l need not cay that l believe there is
scriptural authority for calling the Bible
the Word of God. I have also the repu-
tation of being honest l have always
supposed that Liberal Christians were at
least courteous. To charge man with
dishonesty of any kind is a serious
thing. But the meanest thing in all the
world, is intellectual dishonesty. To
hold up to the gaze of men, the vast
majority of Christians, iwho do not 40
cept the results of the Higher Criticism,
as guilty of intellectual dishonesty. is
about the coolest bit of assurance have
come across in many day.
There might be many things said about
the sermon. There certainly can be 10
fRult found with the text. Jeremiah on
this occasion seems to suit every body.
:" He that hath my word, let him speak
my word faithfully" Com mon honesty
will prompt q man to do that. But it
strikes one as curious, that a man who
objects to the Bible as the Word of God,
should choose passage which expressly
declares that God has word, as n peg to
hang certain assertions and arguments
to prove the contrary. That XIII
chapter of Jeremiah is a grim cOmmen-
tary on such an attempt. If that was
the chapter read as the lssson at Con-
gress Square Sunday morning. it must
have SET the people to thinking.
OF course DR.. Blanchard approved of
the Stackpole essay. To have Metho-
dist minister uphold the Higher Criti-
cisn in more liberal manner than any
liberal minister In Portland ever dreamed
of doing, must have been a very edifying
sight to certain people. The sermon
gives..us dc finition.of Higher Criticism.
1T is only the attempt of educated
men to discover the origin and meaning
of The books Of the Old and New Tesla
ment.' But why Ignore the fact that
men, and many more of them. just as
we'll educated. arrive at totally different
cOnclusionsP
The sermon mentions the names of five
of thess critics. Why limit the number
to five? 1t is mighty easy thing to
juggl6 with figures and names. Sup
pose, as opposed to our friend the Eng
Hsh CongreR ati0nalist, we name Glad
stone; alongside of ex-President White,
we put DR.. Patton of Princeton: Bishop
Wordsworth will stand along side of DR..
hartman. The equals of the other three
men you will easily find most anywhere.
Five .eems to be favnrite number at
Congress Square, SO after the great
lights, come the five results of criticism.
"The Bible is literature. There is no
peculiar Inspiration. Inspiration Is not
infallibiiity. The consensus of opinion
among higher critics is growing. The
critic is the illuminator of the Bible. "
The only new thing menti med is that
or owing consensus. Will DR.. Blanchard
enlarge at an early date on that point?
Will he explain just how it is that as
matter Of fact. one theory after another
has been given up, and that in Germany
where this criticism began, there are
signs of strong reaction since? These
five points of the critics seem as formula
BILE as the five points of Calvinism of
blessed memory. and are "buttressed"
on the authority of rr. Ladd. We may
suppose him to be the High Priest of
the whole movement, by DIR. Blanch-
ards conservation. Said High Priest
has written book, called "What is the
Bibie?'' From the higher critics staud-
point that question is conundrum.
But who authorized DR.. Ladd to say the
final word in this matter, surely not
Congress Square Up to date no such
authority has been given, nor does Dr.
Laid claim it,
The famous number five appears at the
close of the sermon. The value of High
or Criticism is shown by a. "The
deatbless love of truth amoug the
critics. - The first hero is Erasmus and
the last saint in the calendar is DR..
Briggs We know Erasrnus q not die
martyrs DEATH and from present inGica-
tions, DIR. Briggs will never receive
MARTYRS crown. By the way, will DR..
Blanchard tell " hen Erasmus joined the
school of the Higher Criti os? Erasmus