Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1905-04-25

ants 's'ssstsss.s'tftst' fvtot
| Churchless Protestants ....,.n.lOSIt5
What the term "Churchless Protes
tants" means, Is not clear; the Protestant
! church members and their friends an,
| only S29,2lb, which 10 less than the Pro
testant "churchlcss' population 10y 25S,
| 5l1, and not much greater than tn;
| number OF Jews in New York, now est.
| mated by The American Hebrew at 760,.
900, while IT is far below the uumbe,
! Of Catholics.
A comparison OF figures further dis.
closes the fact that the Protestant pop.
ulation Is falling of, that Is to say, ID
does not keep up with the general IN
crease Of the population. This fact "a
not very satisfactory 10 Protestant pas.
tors and workers. but there seems to De-
mo- remedy for II. protestautlym what
ever Is The cause OF II, Is hardly holdiue
IT'S own IN the world.
The decline noted is really not sur
prsing Professionalism separated it,
SELF from Catholicism and placed
above councils ana above popos, tho
Bible ag tho highest authority no an
matters Of faith aud conduct But
lately so-called higher criticism has
played fearful havoc with this dis
tmCuy Protestant doctrine, by assail-
ing the Bible with as much vehemence.
though In more polite terms, as Luz
Their ever assailcd the pope, Higher
critics have ondeavored to show that
the Bible, go far from being an infalH.
Bile guide contains much that Is myth
icaL and that much ~ OF pagan origin.
The Bible writer's they admit, have
given ms an admirable code OF ethics
but they were no more infalliblo than
were the Greeks as teachers Of art,
or the Romans as teachers Of law.
Such doctrines have been proclaimed
in pulpit ana press, untll many accept
them as beyond controversy The result
is rejection Of the Bible as the author
itatlyc guide. and the consequent de-
cline OF Professionalism Higher criti-
clsm has undermined the foundations
upon which the Reformors reared their
structure That Is one reason why It
is abandoned az unsafe.
IL Is worth while noting in this con-
nectlon that some Of the higher critics
have kindly cndeavored TO console the
Bible readers for the loss they are In
iiicting on them by pralslng the an
cient records for their marvellous beau
ty Of style, In other words they would
like 10 prove those books valueless, ex.
cept as models of composition. But
this is worse than useless. II the Bible
does not contain the word OF God, II
is "A fraud no matter how beautiful
It's phraseology may be. II It ls not
declaration OF Gods VIII through His
inspired servants, It is no more than
the Eddas OF the Icelanders or the
Had Of the Greeks It is not true that
II is a model of literary COM
position, though there are lofty pas
sages, unapproached By profane writ
ers But these are exceptions, There
are also tedious tautoogies, obscure
descriptions, apparently faulty logic In
fact the human instrumentality in the
sacred writings is very evident, and for
that, infalibility can certainly not be
claimed any more than for the ancient
authors of the Book Of Mormon. As a
recent student OF this subject puts It:
"The man who turns to the Bible for
instruction In narration, description,
exposition, and augmentation, will as
Professor Baldwin proves, come upon
pretty doubtful examples. Az a mere
piece OF narrative. the story of David
and Absalom or even OF the prodigal
son Is by no means Incompatible The
description OF the Tabernacle. which
Professor Baldwin cites from Exodus,
II certainly not remarkable for clear
ness. Exposition Of all kinds has been
better done by modern masters. No
eXpo5it0r of science would set the Bible
above HUXLEY and Tyndall as models.
In augmentation, there Is hardly a
passage in the Old Testament or New
IN which evidence Is marshalled and
tested as by Burke or Webster. M
deed, we cannot expect 20 find in the
Bible clear conception OF the cur.
rent theories OF evidence which deter
mine the form OF an argument"
Professionalism is, then, assailed by A
most formidable foe, BY means Of
archaeology It has successfully defeat
ed the inhdels who assailed II on his
torlcal grounds. But this very science
has supplied the new weapons Of attack,
Of which higher criticism ayalls itself.
II that criticism as understood by
some Of its foremost opponents, ia
true, then Professionalism has no longer
any foundation for It's faith. It has
no Bible to appeal TO, as q divine ora,
Gle Il cannot consistently preach re,
pentance, rebuke sins, or proclaim for
giveness for It has no divine code OF
ethics, no infallible standard, no uni
versal authority II all the claims OF
higher critics are true, Professionalism
must fall with crash, as the bridge
Blfrost. before Ragnarok, when Surtr
and his hosts attempt to take Asgard
by storm,
Togo IA living low for bIark ducba