The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-03-28
THE VIRGIN BATH OF JESUS
10 tie Editor II the Prssa

- 49, @~~@s~N% ~ ~ = -
II is always refreshing 10 listen 10 tire
words Of one who has the courage Of his
convictions. I homer Bishop Goldman
for the sxplisitness and Straightforward
mess Of his speeches and sermons. At
the banquet 81 the Falmouth he told us
81 der svery man, woman and child OF she
state e. belonaing &, him. In his SER
mon Of last Sunday morning he declared
that Protsstantism Is no religion. IL IL
only intellectual criticism. All this, and
much more, IL delightfully."- clear and
frank. he does not wish 20 be callsd .
Protestant although he IL Q bishop In the
Protestant Episcopal church. He wishes
to be known 90 q Catholic. The Angli-
can High Church party calls itself BY
that name. II win have none Of Profess
tantlsm. II bersves In the celibaoy Of
the clergy. In priestiy sbsolution, In the
confessional, In the Real Presence In the
Holy Communion.
Doubtless Bishop Goldman viii frankly
tell NJ some day whether his Catholic Ism
includes these doctrines. He 10 In earnest,
he 10 sincere; he is ousspoken. We shall
all be glad to hear or read his deoiara-
items when he wishes TO make them.
Meanwhile. as lover of frank speech.
wish 10 call attention 10 his words
oencerning the "virgin birth Of Christ !"
The text Is taken from John LII 10.
Now sueh great scholars ~ Olshausen
and Tholuck teach that the verses from
Is TO 81 are not the words OF Jesus AZ
one reads them, even the unscholariy
reader might readily feel that they are
the words Of the author Of the Fourth
Gospel. they certainly are very different
from the words Of Jesus In the ether
three gospels.
MOREOVER, the greatest scholars Of to-day
are declaring that the fourth gospel lie an
tsay Of an unknown religious genius
who has written hts account 20 Riorify
Jesus. II hes great beauty, but is not
reliable as history.
words, 10 does not follow that they teach
virgin birth. Jesus might bavs claimed
special fsthsrhood of God without tenoh-
ing thas he had no earthly father. The
legend Of the angel announcing to Mary
the coming Christ IL lovely, but not bis
tericai. 30 evident 10 this that Dr.
dover seminary and new president OF
| Amherst colls9e, says In his Moral Evo-
| luton, page 4Ss, "Beiiss In the birth Of
Jesus from . virgin, do not regard as
an essential doctrine Of Ohristiauity.
The virgin birth is not directly referred
| No wonder, therefore. that IL 10 now
fashionable to deny the virgin birth.
Our earnest brother asserts that the
| fact Of the virgin birth 10 essential to the
| Gospel Of Christ. he asks, ST the virgin
birth 10 false. what else Is truef Il there
L tha1 han
fer tt o IiunerI Il Oh. 70 any heavenf Shall
we and the dear departed ones ever meet
again? All falls down, II that stone be
taken from the sroh." And yet, earlier
In the sermon he had declared that
''Thers are q thousand evidences Of the
existence Of q supernatural sphere where
there In no pain, nor sorrow, nor ain, no
death, no trouble. nor sad separations.
How then can the loss CT faith In the
virgin birth destroy these thousand evil
| dences Ct q higher worldf
| Our brother also said that Christ IL
stand that GOO is hia Father In differ
emit sense than he is our Father, and that
| Christ is the Son Of God In different
sense than that we are sons Of God.
I do not 80 read the gospels "our
FAthsr who art In Heaven" 81 ascend
my God and your God," are his words.
Suraly thsy do not teach difference.
Jesus is our helper. our inspirsr, because
| he 10 o man-boFn a. other men are,
| tempted In all points ~ We are, made
perfect through suffering. To have 10
| proved that he was NOT man would give
| poignant pain 20 multitudes Of his loving
disciples. They see the reason why the
legend Of the virgin birth arose. They
understand why men think Gods love
| needed witness In the sacrifice Of son.
| But as they see that only two peetical no.
counts contain the dootrine-that Science
teaches that God has one way for genera
tion for offspring, In vegetables, animal
and human Life, they llstsn 20 Gods
voice In his unsnding revelation In every
birth and can only wonder that intelli-
CANT men today are willing to place two
stories over against Gods teaching In
all the ages. While they reject the
virgin birth because they believe 10 IL
not an integral part of the New Testa-
msnt and because God speaks 90 them In
every child, they reject 1t. with all their
| minds and hearts, because it would take
away their beloved Master who came TO
show them how to love God and man.
HENRY BLANCHARD.