The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-05-02
DR.TAYL0R DID NOT PREACH
IN THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE WHILE APISTOR HERE

Nor at Any Other Time-A Little Matter of
 Local History Set Right-What Rev. Dr.
 George Lansing Taylor Says on the Sub
 jeot-He Recalls the Days of Dr. Wechs-
 Ter in This City-Dr. Taylor Says He Was
 Not Invited.
 Georgetown, Conn.,, April 27 1896
 Much Respected Journal and Courier,
 Your marked article and note of in- quiry are at hand. I did not preach in
 the Jewish synagogue while pastor in
 the old George street M. E. church. in
 tS74-75, nor at any other time, The
 then rabbi of that synagogue, Dr.
 Wechsler, by my invitation, preached
 in my church,-an invitation which he did not reciprocate, and for which
 was feebly criticised in your columns,
 and my motives impugned, by an appa- rently jealous correspondent signing
 himself "A Methodist"
 had preached, on Sunday morning,
 January 9, 1876, on Christ's parable of
 the Barren Fig Tree" Luke 1S:6-9 Next day the Journal and Courier
 printed a partial report of the sermon
 by it's own reporter, and without my
 knowledge or revision. Dr. Wechsler criticised my reported sermon in your
 columns of January 13, 1876 To his
 criticisms I replied at length on Janua-
 ry 18th and invited him to occupy my
 pulpit, which he did on Sunday morn ing, January 30, the sermon and my re-
 marks introducing pr. w. being print ed in your columns for January 31 and February 1. You will find it all in your files, also the peevish and unworthy notes of "A Methodist in the issue of February 2 and of "A Congregational st' in February '.
 Had Dr. Wechsler invited me or any
 other uncompromisingly orthodox min ister to occupy his pulpit, he would have vindicated his claim of liberality for himself and his people. He did not and so I think orthodox Christianity showed itself the more liberal faith of | the two.
 | As to the sermons of Unitarians and | Universalists in Jewish synagogues, | Jewish sermons in those churches, such | exchanges have very little religious or l theological significance anyhow. Such | words in a sermon as those of the Rev. l MT. Dickerman in your marked report: | We are concluding quite rapidly that l the Bible is not absolute authority in l religion. We recognize it as a book of 1 devotion rather than as book of infal- lible opinion. Real authority in reli- zion is the spiritual consciousness of l man." etc, etc, etc. prepare us to see 1 the adored name of the Holy Ghost | spelled without capital letters a little | lower down the column, as the Boston infdel, George Chainey, used purposely | to write the name of God with little | 'g"-unless in MT. Dickerman's sermon | this was an oversight of the proof l reader Such a sermon as that no
 more represents Christianity in a Jew 1 isl1 pulpit than would one by Elias
 Hicks or Theodore Parker, were they living. It has no manner of impor- | tance whatever to the general Chris | tian public and when the secular press
 makes much of it' in that sense, the press simply makes a mistake. Igno-
 rant readers may wonder but intelli-
 gent ones will merely say Birds of a | feather" Sc. Nay, they will respect | the orthodox Jew more than the spuri- ous misrepresenter of Christianity. Yours truly,
 GEORGE LANSING TAYLOR.