The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1901-11-20

| Dr. King then took up the question:
Of probation whether limited to thia
life or extended to the future. He said
he did not believe there is any hope
given in the Bible of probation be-
lyond this life. With the present small
congregations in the churches, he said
ministers had better stop preaching a
milk and water gospel. II think we are
emptying the churches by preaching
half gospel he said
DR.. King referred to existing condi-
lions as shown by the report of the
deaconess at Trinity Church. He stated
that on Main Street, between Chandler
and Piedmont Streets, there are 30
families which have no church connec-
tons. They are not foreigners either,
but Americans. On Wellington Street
there are is families in the same con-
dition; on Preston Street, III Dale
Street, IA. On Charlton Street. at the
first house the deaconess visited, a
woman told her that there would be
no use for her to canvas the street, be-
cause everybody who lived on it went
to Old South Church. The deaconess
proceeded, however, and found 10 fam
lilies without church connection.
DR.. King estimated that there are
1000 families within a half-mile radius
of Trinity Church who do not attend
church regularly. Yet, he said, you and
1 go on cancelling each others work pull
ling each other down while thepeople out
side laugh at us"
The discussion was opened by DIR.
Pentecost, who said in part:
CDR. King has certainly presented
this matter very lucidly. I have no
doubt the present condition Of the
church has in part grown out Of the
process OF cancellation and the general
process of minimizing Christianity. the
concession we have made to the out
side world of having as little Chris
tianity as possible and combining 1t to
the churches.
Il find no escape myself from the
doctrine Of eternal punishment without
some process of eliminating the au-
thority of the Scriptures. / think all
thoughtful men are evolutionists up to
a certain point. But the Spencertan
and material theories are being
shelved The non-theistic evolutionist
has disappeared. Thirty-five years
ago you could not elect Christian as
president of the British association;
today you could not elect material
list"
DIR. Pentecost urged "cautiousness IN
the drawing of conclusions. He said:
I'VE must not suppose that at any
given time we have reached the end
of knowledge.
"As commonly held, evolution makes
the doctrine Of the incarnation impos-
sible The tendency is, therefore, to
get rid of the nativity stories in the
gospels. You cannot reconcile regen-
Grafton with evolution. There is moth
ing back in nature that will allow or
| account for the resurrection of the
body. Now 1 am a liberal conserva-
tive or a conservative liberal or
hopeful pessimist, and all that sort OF
thing The exigencies of the times
make one adopt some such theory.
II welcome with hearty gladness the
investigation of the higher critics.
think they have been Of inestimable
value. But / refuse absolutely to ac-
cept large part of their conclusions.
Their work has been great, but their
conclusions unsatisfactory.
Hancock, in his latest book repudi-
ates entirely all the supernatural In
the Bible. The whole tendency is TO
eliminate the supernatural. Now II
Christianity is not supernatural re-
ligion, / don't know what business we
have with 1t.
TN my own mind I look for some
kind of reconciliation between the the
DRY of evolution and the supernatural.
"There are two theories of evolution,
the barrel organ theory and the pipe
organ theory. The barrel organ theory
is that the ages grind out certain tunes
in order. They can't do anything else.
/ take a piece of music to the owner
of a barrel organ, and ask him to play
It, He says 81 can't. This organ Is
! scientific instrument, it can play only
eight tunes. l go to an organist, or to
2 my daughter, with a piece of music,
something entirely new, which has
2 never been played before. l ask her
If she can play II on the piano. why
= yes father" she says, II can play any
thing on the piano" And she does play
. it. Yet the piano is as scientific an in
strument as the barrel organ, for all
that 1t is capable Of playing an Infinite
number Of tunes.
Now the scientists, some Of them,
2 are dealing with the world as If 1t were
a barrel organ. l would take it rather
to be a pipe organ, upon the keys OF
which God puts his fingers and plays
any tune he wishes at any time. What
we call miracles Is God putting his
: hands on the stops. The low prelude
begun ages ago led up to the magnif-
: cent outburst when Jesus Christ came
to earth.
II don't know but I'm not afraid I
believe in God in the divinity of this
world, that II is Gods and that he
: can bring anything out of 1t he wants
to-
Rev. J. f. Gaylord and Rev. I. l.. Will
cox spoke briefly
Rev DR. Spenser b. Meeser arose to
defend himself and his brother minis
ters from the imputation which he
thought he had detected in DR. Kings
/ paper, to the effect that they paid too
much attention to higher criticism and
| evolution. DR.. Meeser said he had heard
a good many sermons and had yet to
hear one on the higher criticism or ev-
olution He had never preached on
these subjects himself He said he
he did not want the impression to get
out that any one minister was Elijah
| under the Juniper tree" and that IAN
the rest Of US are gone to the dogs.
He thought that no one ought to say
Il alone am alive" He said he be-
lieved there were still 1000 who had
not yet bent the knee to Baal"
4 DR.. Meeser reviewed the development
Of the theory of evolution, saying that
it had tended to make man seem SMALL
| er in time, In place, in biology. in dy-
| namics and as a social Individual The
idea that man is Of small account has
had a depressing effect. God too, has
seemed to become smaller by being
bound up in law. DR.. Meeser ascribed
this to a failure to discriminate be-
tween the statements of ultimate facts
scientifically and ultimate facts, relig-
iously.
Rev. Vincent f. Tomlinson said no
had never preached the higher criti-
cism and he thought very few minis
ters did.
DR.. King. replying to Dr. Meeser.
/; said he did not consider himself to be
occupying a position of an Elijah I'M
der the Juniper tree
He said Of Mr.. Tomlinson that he
! had always believed him to be con-
structive Unfversalist until he pitched
days ago
Df NTaasar said a last word in de-