New-York tribune., 1898-10-24
A REPLY FROM DR.. ". s. GROVE
DR. PARKHURsT's THEORIES. HIS BROTHER
CLERGYMAN SAYS. DO NOT JUsTIFT HIs
REPUTATION FOR LEARNING.


At the Church of the Eternal Hope, in West
Eighty -hrst-st, yesterday morning 'he rev ~.
W : Grove preached sermon in reply to tha'
nreacbed a week ago Dy the Rev. Dr.. Charles PARK
hurst AT the Madison Square Presbyterian Church'
DR. Grove called his address DR.. PaTkhurs,S
pessimisnn and declared that the doctors theories
did not Justify his reputation for learning
DR. Parkhurst says 'God-worship yesterday ana
hull-worship to-day-an extreme drop. but mace
easily and expedtiousy'" said Or. Grove. That
sentence was uttered an exponent Of rehgious
history. The simple facts disprove the statement
and prove in its place bull worship IN the lor"er
time and Coo worship in the later tlme-ah extreme
rise made painfully and slowly. From the totem
OF the savage to tie eternal goodness Of Whittier
Is a long road but that is the road. and that the
direction from which religion has travelled
DR. Grove contrasteG the morals. manners re-
ueion and government ot primitive people with Inc
morals manners religion and government OF 10
5ay and deduced that worship had risen from us
former beastly level exactly as intelligence and
morality have risen from baroarsm DR. PARK
hurst saws" he continued. Scripture is vo-
luminous illustration OF the tendency Of man to 60
from good to bad and from bad 70 worse. Inc
overwhelming truth is that Scripture illustrates the
tendency Of 10 so from bad TO GOOD ana from
good 10 better" DR.. Grove illustrated this conteh-
ton by showing how many OF the Biole characters
began badly. but developed into devoutly conscien
,ious men and great moral leaders, and declared
that II ever the Bible writer's were inspired 1t was
when they related the Unhappy facts about the
early depravity Of their national heroes, and how
they battled their way out of and up from de-
pravity to sublime heights Of moral excellence.
"Dr. Parkhurst says, The nrst thlhe we hho" oI
mans doing after having had Paradise given TO
Well / did not know. and did not believe until
last week that there thinker and a scholar
IN any American pulpit who accepted me stoI! OI
Eden as authentic Sine IL mas DeeR t oeiion- non.
oral hundred wears beyond the date Of Adam
creation il naturally seems that doubt would be
raised conceTnng Ads M hat Sla rs tne esTden Of
childhood Adam is every child that played among
the flowers The eating Of the tree OF Kn1%leuse
is the awakening OF self-consciousness The ex-
pusion is the gong forth from dependent infancy
10 the ambitions and responsiplites OF fnShhoou, @ %
Playday is dead Workday has come. To earn
his bread by the Of his brow Is no curse, out
The greatest conceivable blessing ,. ,-. -,
Or. Parkhurst says. Animals develop into ami
work on moral grounds The Bible compliments
man as being little lower than the angels Di
Parkhurst places man very much below the am
mails Darwinism means the struggle for exsIehce
and the survival Of the fttest and the culture or
rhs survival. Animals battle with each other Tor
life The higher orders live, and in the oatte tney
develop stll higher abilities. In like manner the
moral forces Of the world and immoral forces nave
been perpetually struggling for the mastery Is i
The immoral forces have weakened ~
Referring 70 the work in the churches, Dr Grove
said that perhaps DIT Parkhurs IN ms iinpartaI m
reading Of history, had come upoa time "he3
Christians considered II Gods service 70 roo ana
murder Jews. when Catholics burned Protestants'
and when Calvin adopted the same methods o. re-,
for1ning Tnitarans: when Presbyterians drowned
congregationalists and hanged people who would
not believe in witchcraft, and when Quakers were
1ounded like wild beasts. Against that parody on
religion the better instincts os all respectable men
and women did battle, The Old sec'arian 0rgU,pg
Secsncies and neighborly association struggled yet
more vaiantly. and Darwinsm worked.