The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-10-30

Professor Graham Taylor's address, re-
! ferred to speaker of the day before,
and affirmed; The Sermon on the
Mount is not secondary element in the
Gospel" And then Rev. Mr.. Richie, of
England, retorted. "In reply to DR..
Gladden's remark concerning the rela-
tive place of the Sermon on the Mount,
l would say that to carry out the Ser
mon on the Mount you need dynamic;
and the only power that can realize
Christ's ideals is in the person of our
Redeemer and in His cross"
Here, indeed, is profound contrast
In New England probably two thirds OF
the Congregational preachers hold the
so-called moral view of the atonement.
Most Others, while holding that the
atonement has another aspect, still feel
that the significant thing is its moral
Influence. The parable of the prodigal
son is the classic on the question. The
father needs no reconciling to his chill
dren, To us, this voice from the moth
err country sounded like one from ages
LONG ago. We asked of one and anoth-
err of the visiting delegates Do these
men represent the dominant thought OF
your pulpit? And the answer was an
emphatic Affirmative, THAT is what our
young men are preaching" Said DR..
John Brown. Of Bedford, in recent in
tervieW: 1--WE hold to Christ's redemp-
tive significance. We have now firm
err grasp on the supernatural We have
passed through the stage which laid
weight ON the moral view. 1t is some
f,,pr n
that there was in the death of Christ
that which altered mans moral fela-
tons with the government Of God. The
ethical element is not the deepest. 1t
grows out of the other. The founda-
tions rest here. He was made sin for
us, who knew no sim Compared with
this the mere ethical conception is sec
ondary. AS Maclaren said, christianity
without dying Christ is dying Chris
tianity.'
This is a radical change on the part
of our English friends. They tell us
that couple of decades ago they were
where we are now Two profoundly in
teresting quest ons arise here. 1t is true
that our British cousins have generally
led us in theological thought by at least
Il uGcdue UI lNU. tolldll we, lHeI, uut-
ing the next twenty years, swing back
to a governmental view of the atone
ment as the cardinal point Of the Cos
pei?
The other question is this, Does the
difference of matter which we have sug-
eested account for the difference of
manner which is so marked? AS
preachers in the general sense Of the
tenn they are our superiors We have
seldom seen more real conviction in
preaching. Do they preach more conf
IDENTIFY, more personal---very., more power
fully, because they have a gospel that
moves, persuades and appeals to the
hearts of men? Do we lack in power
because we have set aside what they
affirm to be the dynamic of the gospel
for the preaching of literary criticism
and ethics? And one at the council
must have felt that, even as council,
1t would have been dull, lacking in
spiritual power had it not been for the
visitors. Is all this because they are
by nature more effective preachers? Or
are they more moving preachers because
they have a more moving gospel? We
shall do we'll to ponder these profoundly
and significant questions.
New Haven, Conn,