The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-04-02
PROF. PEARSON'S HERESY
CHRISTos DIVINITY DENIED by THE
METHODIST TEACHER.
Extracts from HIS Book. which Show
He Is Not In Accord with Or
thodox Church People
Chicago Letter.

Orthodox Christianity is attacked with
out compromise by Prof. Charles william
Pearson in the life of Christ which has just
been issued. Until recently Pearson occu-
pied a chair in the Uni
versity, but public utterances of his ex-
IRENE views created such a storm Of criti-
oism that he was virtually compelled 10
resign. In the present volume he retracts
nothing, but seeks to prove that many Of
the accepted beliefs of the Christian church
cannot stand in the light of modern knowl-
edge and inquiry.
The book is called The Carpenter
Prophet; a Life of Jesus Christ and a Dis
cussion of His Ideals" Briefly summarized
il denies the divinity of Christ. but exalts
Him as a man and a reformer of mankind.
1T rejects the trinity. brands the so-called
miracles as fabulous and holds that the
superstition and Controversy of dogma
have hidden from men the true Christ and
His mission
In his preface Professor Pearson declares:
Unpleasant as IL is to say il. a clergy
mans utterances are very highly regarded.
If instead OF the careless assumptions and
vague rhetorical declamations of the pulpit
we could have accurate and thorough teach
ing in religion and morals: IL, like men OF
science, CierRymen should Keep silence until
they had something definite to say, and
should then. after careful examination or
every phase of the question, present their
conclusions with scientific caution and
thoroughness the pulpit would again COM
mand a serious hearing"
Beginning with the birth of Jesus, Prof.
Pearson interprets the story OF the immac-
ulate conception as a hgurative way of eX-
pressing the truth that a pure birth is
needful to a healthful life. and that the life
Of Jesus in the gospels necessarily implied
similar life of His mother. Discussing the
miracles Professor Pearson says:
THE question in its simplest form is; Are
we and our children to accept the teachings
of modern science; are we to believe our
Biographies and books of chemistry and
physics as to the uniformity OF natural laws
or are We to follow legends and believe that
sometimes fire does not burn unprotected
flesh? That the law of gravitation does not
always act, and that the law of the inertia
of organic matter Is Intermittent!
ITO many gooC people miracles are the
very anchor of their. hope. II Jesus was
acles and did not rise from the dead, they
are afraid that His teachings may not be
true. 1t is needless fear. Indeed, the
ground of alarm lis In the opposite olrec-
ton.
"The mere fact that there is no argu-
ment drawn from miracles by any of the
that the accounts of them are
mere folklore and poetry, which the great
spiritual leaders of the church regarded as
crude embellishments. more likely to do
harm than good, just as enlightened Cath
Ollie bishops are now everywhere abolish
ing many of the more childish ceremonies
of their church"
Speaking of the Last Supper, the writer
quotes the words ascribed to Jesus and
goes on to say: 1.-The words, This is my
body have been understood literally, and
the doctrine of transubstantiation has been
built upon them. When we consider how
boldly figurative the language of Jesus
habitually was, how He told men that faith,
like a grain Of mustard seed. could remove
mountains; when we reflect upon His fire.
quent use of such paradoxes as. Let the
dead bury their dead. II seems strange that
the figure. This is my body. naturally sug-
gested by the occasion. should have been
made the warrant for the monstrous doc
trine that every time A priest utters a GER
tain formula of conservation over a bit o
bread IL is transformed into the body OF
Jesus. This seems 10 me mere fetichism
and magical incarnation, and infinitely re-
moved from the spirit of the religion Of
Jesus"
Coming to the trial. Professor Pearson
says: Those who are shocked at a denial
of Christ's supreme deity would have been
just as much shocked at the first assertion
that Jesus had never claimed to be God:
that his enemies, in the extremity OF their
embarrassment and anger, never made any
such charge against Him. That charge had
indeed nee been made in the heat of de-
bate, but Jesus had shown so u~neqJhvocally
that He only claimed TO be the Son OF God,
and that similar titles had been borne by
others: that His accusers on this occasion
did not think it worth while 10 repeat a
charge that He would surely again disa-
VOW.
Jesus was not crucifed for uttering
beatitudes or for healing the sick, but for
assailing the abuses connected with the
Sabbath, the temple, the sacrifices and the
law, abuses by which large numbers of in
fuential men obtained their wealth and
honors. The priests and scribes who con-
denned Him were fighting for their posi-
n md nenrnEtE faaGf a. a do
ring fights civil-service reformers. OF as
the Southern planters who owned slaves
and the Northern merchants who sold them
supplies fought Lovejoy, Garrison and
Sumner"
The story of the resurrection is construed
by Professor Pearson to be an imaginative
picture arising from the intuition that man
is a spirit. and that his spirit survives the
destruction of his body. ut was I'm the
hearts, not the eyes, of His disciples. and IL
therefore gives a stronger attestation 10
His character than any physical resurrec-
tion could have done"
The conclusion of the whole argument is
thus given:
The struggle for a genuine Christianity.
free from false philosophy and pagan error,
has been long and bitter. but the victory
of truth and righteousness is drawing near.
The ignorant have opposed the dead weight
of the stupidity. the selfish and active in
genuity of their ambition, the bigOted. the
fierce cruelty of their fanaticism against
every social po1uGai ana mora relolm,
have increased.
1--WE are all descendants of hundreds of
generations Of pagans. The blood of the
cave-dwelIers. who thought the thunder
bolt the dart of an angry god il in our
veins. Our nerves will tremble with the
superstitions which made affairs reek with
blood to propitiate the vengeful deities who
scourged men with famine and pestilence.
And so we still have a fading theology that
makes Christ a mediator between an angry
God and a suffering race of men and His
death an atOninR sacrifice. But all this is
nassing away. and We are coming TO under
/ stand the simple gospel of Jesus. the plain
gospel of purity. love and service"