The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-06-11
II

but 10 convey their sense as faithfully as pos
sibe.
In "Renascent Christianity" the author
tnkes MP and answers cateGorically the ques-
tons which are likely to he addressed by
| orthodox Christians to representatives of the
higher criticism One often heard inquiry Isl
| Are you not exposinR yourself to the charge
| OF 'heresy 2" The answer il: There are no
terrors in this charge. as 1t has been n familiar
one to the author from college and theological
! seminary days. After the wny which they
/ call heresy. so worshipped ! the God OF my
! fathers for these thirty years past Or n sim
| liar kind IL another objection frequently en-
| countcrcd: Are you not reviving ancient
| heresies which were long ago and repeatedly
! condemned" The reply Is: YES. but II Is
/ always In order to move a reconsideration
! Then GENES the Inquiry. Are you not disrc-
garding the injunction Of Jesus, Put rot new
! wine into old bottles: sew not new cloth upon
an old garment 2" The response made to this
objection is: Temporary eXpedients are al
ways allowable. and sometimes advisable: till
new bottles are made 1t is wise TO tie ur the
old wine Skns a. best one can: till the new
garments IRE patterned and prepared 1t Is
needful to patch up the old This however.
not as a ilnalty. but only as n makeshit." In
cOnntCtlOn Win tnlS particular topic we are
| reminded that Jesus himself and his apostles
used nearly all OF the outworn forms. formu-
arles and symbols OF the Jews with entirely
new meanings. For good many years the
orthodox party among the Christians with their
Judaizngs as to circumcision. bloody sacrifices.
priestly SUGGESTIONS. tenn pie worship and other
such essentials ." and essential meanings"
was Overwhelmingly uppermost. St Paul for
time almost gehanded. batted with
A..
the old forms. formularies and symbols in
new and rational way. After his death, sue
cessors IN the Pauline spirit aud methods null
tlplisd and, finally. prevailed. Then. and not
till then. was the new wine put into new bottles:
the new garments were made out Of new cloth.
Much the same thing took place at the time of
the Protestant Reformation. which the repre-
sentatives of the higher criticism regard as
only the beginning OF the renaissance OF
Christianity. Two centuries before Luther. in
diyidual priests and sanity scholars began TO
use. and to insist upon using. old forms. for
mnaries and symbols with meanings entirely
new. Till Professionalism was fact. organized
and established. this rational use OF irrational
rituals. creeds and sacraments was persisted
In by Individuals: at length. the various
CORPORATE bodies OF Professionalism were
compelled to accept the rational meanings and
adopt new forms OF ritual creeds and sacra-
ments appropriate to them. So has 1t been
ever and everywhere in all classes OF reforms.
Never Is there an abrupt transit from tho old
to the new: the changes are gradual. first In
the spirit. then in the letter. Not revolution
but reform Ia the meaning Of renascent
Christianity Christianity sprinRinG up into re-
newed life. and the renewed life in due time
assuming its appropriate form: reforming it.
self. This view of the matter helps our author
to answer another question which is frequent
" put to the upholders Of critical study OF
the Bible: Are you not inconsistent. nay
guilty OF a sort OF hypocrisy In remaining OFF,
cially. or even nominally. connected with re-
ligious body which. az regards the large ma
jorty. adheres to the old spirit. az well as let
ter. OF it's belief" The answer is that reform
comes never, except through the efforts OF self
consecrated. self-forgetting -eformers. who
are inside the religious body that needs to be
reformed and who insist upon the right to re-
main inside as long as free Interpretation and
free speech are granted to them"
We pass to another question which Is often
in the mouths Of DIRECTORS 10 a critical study Of
the Bible: why not wait for councils. conven-
tons or authorized committees of the great
religious bodies to do the tying up and the
patching If these things so much need to be
done" by what authority doest thou these
things ?" The answer is given in tho words OF
well-known and highly venerated Ameri-
can Clergyman: Always there is the same
danger when you trust to priests and Levites
instead OF leaving every man to testify for the
truth The priest goes on his side Of the way on
his decorous journey The Levite goes on his 1t
is the outside Samaritan who listens to the
voice OF God. The Mormon Church OF ycster-
day or the Roman Catholic Church Of the Dark
Ages. or any OF its little Protestant mitntors
are all In the same condemnation From the
nature OF the case they look backward and
despse the word OF prophecy. Most danger
GUS. as believe. to liberty OF conscience Is a
compact organization where wealth and dig
nifty and prestige combine to In sist that Middle
Age dOgmas shall be clamped over the mouth
o! the creatures OF to-day. men who have
been taught by Hamilton and lie Conte
Darwin and Agassiz. Morris and Robert
son. Martineau and Stanley Charming
and Emerson" To which the author OF
"Renascent Christianity" would add that in
religion. as elsewhere. individuals no loss than
corporations have rights among which Is the
right OF free conscience and free speech. For
sixteen centuries the autocratc Church OF
Rome and Protestant churches have tried to
suppress this right. hut in enlightened days
and in enlightened lands ecclesiastical au-
thoriti"s can be no longer slave holders or
slav"N drivers. The word OF God ia not
hound' any longer. Tho emancipation OF
Church as well as state. In remote and de-
graded communities and "communions."
slave holders and slave drivers still resist; nay,
there are many OF the newly manumitted who
hug their broken chains and. serf-like. dare
not speak as the spirit seeketh to give them
utterance. Notwithstanding. to all that nre
willing to be freemen. the declaration OF spirit
ua independence is an accomplished fact.
We reproduce one more Of the questions to
which those who insist upon applying modern
scholarship to the Interpretation Of the Bible
are expected to reply; Why continue the use OF
such unscriptural terms IA the Trinity and OF
such Apostolic formularies as tho Nicene creed
and ot much Of the language common to tho
written and eItemporaneous devotiOns OF
orthodox Christians. the medieval and modern
meaning Of which is 40 widely different from
tho beliefs entertained by the uphodprs OF the
higher criticism Why continue to employ the
terms which imply belief that. as you insist
neither Jesus nor any of the spiritual
aud intelligent Christians of the first