Evening star., 1899-03-08
iNFALLfBILlTY OF THE BIBLE
Questioned by Rev. DIR. Cadman of tn
Methodist Church.

| From the New York Herald
The Rev. DR.. Stephen P. Cadman, pastor
of the Metropolitan Temple, at 7th avenue
and 14th street, at the weekly meeting of
the Methodist ministers in the Methodist
Book Concern building. last Monday. dis
tinctly denied the inerrancy and nfalibill-
~ of the Bible. About 400 Methodist min
listers listened to him, gave him an extern
sion of time to complete an address that
| lasted an hour and a half. and appiauded
him heartily when his remarks were ended
Among the number was Bishop Edward e.
Andrews
81 said, and 1 thoroughly believe" said
Or. Cadman to me yesterday, that the alb
soiute fnerrancy and infallbility of the
Bible ara no longer possible of belief among
reasoning men. l did not try to reduce the
Infinite to logical proposition.
Why continued DIR. Cadman, "if you
could get fair understanding of the trend
of religious thought of today. it would
make what Is called Ingersollsm seem
archaic. He puts up little images of the
christianity of centuries ago, simply for
the sake OF smashing them for the amuse
ment of his audience. 1t would be as fair
for him to take the science of centuries
ago and use it as an Illustration for poking
fun at Edison and Tesla.
The Suspended Judgment.
II never touched upon the age of Methu-
selah, the temptation of Eve, the tower of
Babel, the story of the flood. and dozen
other disputed Biblical traditions. L did
talk about Jonah and the whale. 1 quoted
E;wald, Neander and Bleek, touched upon
the various explanations they had to offer,
said that ] could not accept their opinions
as conclusive, and defined my personal po-
sition as one of suspended judgment-a very
healthy position | think, for d young man
to occupy on that and many other ques-
tions in the Bible. You see, / only
thirty-four years old. 1t would be imperti-
nent for me TO stand up and dogmatize on
matters of that kind to such veterans of
the pulpit as did me the honor of listening
to what ! had to say.
AT our ministers meeting we have been
having a series of papers on the new schol-
arship in its re alton to the Bible. Among
those who have spoken have been DR.. j.
NJ Buckley and DR.. Andrews. Next week
DIR. Raymond president of Wesleyan Uni
versity, will talk on the same theme. l
assert that the essential portion of Chris
tianity is not in any book or creed, but in
the personality of Jesus Christ the reve
lation OF God. Everything else in the Bible
is subordinate to the teachings of His life
as told by ST. Paul. Half the pages of the
O,d Testament are of unknown authorship
and the New Testament contains innumer-
able contradictions. The Bible. the church
and the pit are mere agencies. Every
thing reverts to the living Christ himself
Closer View of Christ.
I'm the present day there should be no
longer any confusion between literary criti-
cism of the Bible and the criticism of in
spration. They are not on the same plane.
Literary criticism endeavors to ascertain
facts from a human standpoint and in
spiration appeals to the spiritual ear. No
literary criticism can affect the belief in
Jesus Christ. The best minds in our church
today are directed more toward getting a
better knowledge and closer view of Christ
himself than In dabbling in distant streams
of theology.
L asked Bishop Andrews, who is credited
with belonging to the liberal school of
Methodist theo!ogians, what he thought of
DIR. Cadman's address.
What | heard of it impressed me as be-
| ing remarkably good,' he said. II do not
wish to say it was a liberal, but it was de-
cidedy untraditional Interpretation of
| the Scriptures. l believe the majority of
the ministers who listened to him agreed
| in the main with what he had to say
Some of the more orthodox ones may have
not, but they gave no expression to their
views. We welcome liberal speech at our
meetings."
The Rev. DR.. A. j. Palmer who repre-
sents the more orthodox minds in the de-
nomination, said to me: Il think 1t was a
splendid address. A minister who is an au-
thority in our church told me 1t was the
best thing that had been said before the
ministers meeting in five years. Now, that
does not mean that l agree with all that
DIR. Cadman said. 1 am speaking Of hjs
address merely as an address, We give a
| minister large latitude as to what he shall
say in his pulpit and at meetings of that
kind. We count conduct rather than creed
Ministers of the old school will go on
preaching just as they think about the in
spiration Of the Scriptures, regardless of
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