Evening star., 1899-03-09
DR.. Cadman's Address Discussed by
Methodist Ministers.
TIE INPALLlBILITY OF The BIBLE
Opinions of Revs. Bryant, Stitt,
BeaIl, Cuyler and Heisse.
THOUGHTFUL SYMPOSIUM

Methodist circles particularly, and other
orthodox believers well. are consider
ably stirred up with interest over the re-
cent declaration OF Rev DIR. Stephen p
Cadman, pastor OF the Metropolitan Tenn
pie, New York. that the absolute inerrancy
and infauibihty of the Bible are no longer
possible OF belief among reasoning men
This broad enunciation was made by Dr.
Cadman at the weekly meeting of .Metho-
dist ministers held last Monday at the
Methodist Book Concern building, New
York. IN the presence of about 400 listeners
Opinions from various Methodist minis
ters Of this city on the subject were sought
today by The Evening Star.
InfnII.bIe in Faith.
Rev. S VI. Bryant. st. Paufs Church'
said: Il do not know that-I differ from Ut
Cadman upon the essential points Ihe
Bible is inerrant and infalhb!e in all that
1t claims to be. 1t does not claim TO teach
science OF philosophy. 1t deals solely with
religion and the religious side OF man
life 1t is inerrant and infallible in all mat
ters relating to faith and practice. 1t does
not matter 10 US today whether the word
was created in six days or in billions OF
years according TO the eVoiuuonls's- II
does not matter whether OF not lsfidI
wrote all of the book attributed 10 MN u
whether OF not the " hale sWaiio"ed Jonah.
Those are all questions not aHectIhs d
mans faith The Bible tndS It's conSulIlnna-
tion in the Gospels and the eplsties OF the
apostles. Christ and His disciples taught
only those things that men need 10 ktso"
u live the best life here unto eternal ne:
Men today are studying PAU ana CnFIs. 3o-fls,.
where a few years ago they were studying
theology. An illustration Is seen IN the
fact that last yeaL over +OOOV copies OF the
little book In HIS Name were sold some
NAV call this q liberal view, but II Shodid
be noted that some of the sternest Things
ever said on the subject were said by Chrlst
himself. He never made the rehglons are
an easy life. Every step of His own from
Bethlehem TO Calvary was over stony
pathway. 1t was He who said 'lhe gate Is
straight and the way is narrow Close De
obedience He speaks quite emphadcfiiy
Of death through disobedience- so 10
preach Christ does not mean to preach
diluted or fndistinct theology
Believes the Bible to Be True.
Rev. P. l. Cuyler Gaibraith Church. col
ored: Il believe the Bible to be true be
Ileve the Old Testament Scriptures to be
true as leading up to the light of the
gospel We therefore accept the canonical
Scriptures as they are without any addition
or subtraction. / believe in the ark story,
. and that such a man as Noah reaLy lived
l believe that God commanded nm 10 pre-
pare for the salvation OF the antedIuNidiiS-
/ believe the story Of Jonah and the whale,
Just as IT Is told in the Bible, because Chrlst
himself quoted that and He wouold not
have quoted anything untrue. IlS odtiu'
For as Jonah was three days and nights
in the bowels of the whale so must the
son of man lie three days in the bowels OF
The earth | believe in the story OF Moses
turning his rod into serpent. also. be
cause Christ quoted il. He said: For as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilder.
ness so must the son of man be lifted up
Higher Criticism Has Failed.
Rev. J. B. Stitt. D. D., the former pastor
Of Dumbarton Avenue NJ E Church who
has been appointed pastor of the Fayette
Street Church at Baltimore, was of the
opinion that DR.. Cadman was misrepre-
scented in the newspaper articles. DR.. Stitt
does not coincide with the views expressed
in them
'.As to the criticisms of so-called higher
critics. he said. there is a substratum of
truth. but all higher criticism has entirely
failed 10 snake the critical and popular be
lief in the Bible co raining the Will of
God. As to the inspiration of the book.
there are various theories. but / have moth
ing to say in regard to them. l believe that
the Bible is inspired. | am still of the i'm
preston that when DIT. Cadman Is heard
from again the published story will be dis
counted. While 1 do not know him person
ally. 1 know from his work that he is a
faithful aole and eloquent man."
Bible Truths InfaIIibIe.
Rev ]. Beall. the pastor of the West
Washington Mission of the NJ. E. Church
South stated that the difficulty, if any.
thoroughly understanding them.
The two points made by DR.. Cadman,"
said he. are not new. In the first place it
is admitted and nearly all authorities agree
that the authors of many books in the Bible
are unknown In the second place while
the authors are unknown, the personality
of Jesus Christ is revealed in all. The ex-
position Of his facts are not new, only he
presents thcrL in strong and healthy
light There is very little that is ecclesi-
astical or theological in his remarks The
truths Of the Bible, in my opinion, are IN
fallible-"
Christ Above Creed the Aim.
Rev J. p Heisse, pastor of Wesley
Chapel. said:
i know DIR. S. p. Cadman. In eonversa-
ton he is magnetic: in pulpit ability he
holds enviable position: as a writer he
IS strong and patEstaking. He must be
classed among the most brilliant of the
young ministers OF the Methodist Episco-
pal Church Scholarly persistent in stu
dies. charming In pulpit efficiency. of recog-
nized ability in debate, his words must be
read not coming from a thoughtless. su-
perhcial preacher. aiming at sensational
ism and seeking to win popularity.
When read the account of the address
as published in the papers of last Tuesday
the impression was made upon me that "A
garb!ed report had found its way into pub
lic print II l am correctly informed, the
meetings Of the Methodist Episcopal minis
sionally open 10 the public The task is
not a difficult one 10 have an address,
winch Is delivered in private session, erro-
neousiy quoted in the public press Mr.
tadman published interview differs as to
his proposition originally reported in the
addluoh OF one word The proposition was
the tnerreucy and infalhbiity of the Bible
are no longer possible of belief among rea-
son!ng men. In the interview DR. Cadman
places the word absolute before 'iner-
rency- This addition. in my Judgment
makes the widest difference in the world
II is a large loopho.e through which one
may easily escape from the charge of
startling heterodOxy. Translations. fntep-
polations. omissions. changes in punctua-
ton. photography. paragraphing in the
sacred Word must all be considered DIR
Cacman Is not making an assault upon fun
camental doctrines He is but breathing in
and expeliing a little of the atmosphere of
biblical criticism to which all theologians
are accustomed.
Christ above creed is the sweeping force
of today He is not measured in so MANY
sentences, or weighed in the balances OF
many words. He is the larger chr,st'