The sun., 1901-05-12
81 SUPRALAPSARIANISMf
A JOKE ~ THs REV. DR BURRBLL ON
HIS BROTHER MINISTER'S.
His Paper Absst Mythical Theological Book
Read at . Meetins ef Dutch Reformed
Preauhsrs--lt Sounded like Chunks Of
Aiics In wondsrisnd---raken Seriously.

Read at . Meeting Of Dutch Reformed
PreacaAsrs--lt Sounded like Chunks Of
Aiics In wondsrisnd-raken Seriously.
All the reverend doctors around Greater
View York have been chucklng for the last
few weeks over q joke which was played
upon dosen OF their most learned brethren.
DR.. David J. Burial was the Joker. The
victims were chiefly his brother ministers
Of Tho Dutch Reformed Church In New York.
These learned gentlemen-and they arc.
indeed. nothing II not learned meet resu-
larry during the winter. At eaoh meeting
one man reads q paper and then the other
eleven DISCUSS II.
Last winter tho reverend gentlemen
showed q leaning toward papers about par
toularly abstruse books published in any
old language except English When man
could discover book Of this sort and spring
It upon his colleagues he tasted in advance
the Joys Of Dutch Reformed heaven.
Finally IL came to be DR. Burrel's turn.
He felt that II was up TO him 70 walk In the
path which had been struck out by previous
paper readers. but he was especially busy
then and he didn't know Just where TO put
his hand on a book that struck him as worthy
Of the occasion. Moreover, the doctor has
a streak Of humor In him. and when he
thought OF the solemn ministers and their
long words and sometimes longer faces the
streak cropped out
The Doctor. therefore. wrote a beautiful
fake paper about fake book by a fake Ger
man. whom he named Dinkhorst. There
were more long words TO the line in his paper
than any OF his oollea sues had got in theirs
but as the following extracts will show this
consomeration Of long words made up a
string OF perfect nonsense about things
which never happened 1t sounds like
a post raduate course In advanced Alice In
Wonderland
But the ministers listened in rapt attention.
Not "A ray OF suspicion entered their minds.
There wasn't room in their minds for sus-
picion. anyway. They were clogged with
long words They sat knitting their brows
and trying to look wise and hoping that their
neishbors wouldn't see through their blun
And II was all worse than Greek and San
ssrit 10 them. II was the most erudite
paper Of the whole series and as the high
sounding phrases rolled unctuously forth
the ministers sighed enviously and didn Z
wonder that DR. Burrell has occupied 40
long his nice soft berth al the Church
at Fifth avenue and Twenty-ninth street
Here are some samples Of wise uttersnces
which the learned ministers drank in with
solemn Joy;
The English translation Of the work on
Supralapsaranism by Prof Dinkhorst Of
Bonn. which has created such a sensatio n
among thinking men and particularly theo-
logianS is published in London by Longmans
at G2 SIS net
This reference to the sensation N
had created made every man present. know
ing that he hadn't heard OF il. listen with
particular eagerness.
In the opening chapter" proceeded the
guilelcSs reader, he announces tho new
word Iiinl' and along the fine lines which
Hre differentiated In that word he pursues
his interminable argument, In much of
which i, is difficult for the average man like
myself to SEQ what the learned professor
is driving AZ "
Here Dr Burrell permitted himself a quiet
chuckls and then turned on more verbal
steam
The derivation Of this pivotal word IL
not from the Greek ,d,Os as ono would sup
pose. hut from the Sanskrit idos or idoe the
grave accent over the initial letter corre-
spending to the Greek digamma and repre-
"a ~
progressive thought Of intervening CEN
turieS has allowed To measlrably or perhaps
altogether die out At any rate, We have
nothing now 70 correspond to Il
This was so true that DR. Burrell's con-
science felt that the fabrication OF Dink-
horst IN two volumes at a. IS net was atoned
for Also that he might trip, pOndor-
ously it Is true, into the realm of romance
Leaving ont several rcHus uf polysyllables.
this is something like what he said next
The Importance of the distinction, how
IL d
well-known discussion between Decius and
Tyrtaeu,, 3it-3lS A D
This discussion IL well known only to
its inventor the Rey u J Burrcll
The matter would not have assumed such
dimensions. Dinkhorst to the contrary not
wthstandins, had ~ not been for the clan
destinr relations existing between Constan-
tine and Eleuctra, tho beautiful haff-sister Of
Tyrtaeus
it this point in his invention Or Burrell
looked at his rapt listeners and exclaimed
How far yon little candle throws its
beams"
After murmur Of appreciation he went
There were the two disputnnts contestins
the, claims OF new prePositonal Distinction
with the deStinioS Of the Western civil and
Ecclesiastical establishment in the balance and
the world looking gon' II would be interesting
20 conjecture what the effect would have been
had the controversy resulted otherwlse,
As Il l., the outcome has al! 'he appearance Of q
mere adventtious episode The climax IL
reached In the supreme moment when Tyr
tnens, holding the two iatefnl dice each
super poises them above the inverted helmet
OF the Emperor. 10 IL an open secret that
Michael Angelo borrowed from this scene
the striking figure Of the disdained Lystigia :"
The Doctor expected to have his blum
called nj this point. but no the eleven minis
tiers were putting up blum OF their own.
They were trying 70 pretend that they knew
what II was all about So the reader took
a fresh grip Of the intriracles of language and
went on. Here. for instance, is one pearl OF
Thought:
with the authorities concerning the IMPOSE
ton Of unjust taxes, we recall the fateful
words Of the reformer In and of itself the
question whether entity - prior TO energy.
or vice versa may be unimporant. but nothing
II intrinsiCally unimportant which bears
upon the relations Of government 10 its sub
jects
The common law Of England took cog
nIznnoe Of tho same principle furnishing a
precedent for all subsequent Jurisprudence,
In the uisi pr,us contention which placed
the hunChbaCk Edmund on the throne in
1872 for a brief period Of thirteen days
The men who listened declare that Or
Burroll read rapidly and indistlnctly at this
point
ms a victory for the Suhlapsarian opposition:
but the prevailing opinion among those most
competent To Judge is that the point raised
by the Court of Appeals, known in contempo-
purely fictitious issue Nevertheless. u was
regarded al the tim" as valid argument
md IT, influence was for long period a stand
ing menace 10 the EXISTING ORDER.
One more lovely bit
1t Is now adduccd, half century later.
by the monk PQpullnns II his conference
Win Luther as oeaT,nS Gl,,SIt ItHthG,hg on the
II siftcd into Dutch theology an HARLEM
and whom the Pilgrim Fathers vert assembled
on tho iCht before the embarkation ut Delft
.lV H,1,tY a TnnTn prts