New-York tribune., 1905-04-10
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL
Vie5CS of Or. I. X. Fwpls, Prof. j. III.
HySlOp and Rabbi SiIUernan.
TO the Editor Of The Tribune.

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: few minutes after digesting Or. Funks 4
heavy letter In your issue OF March 81 I read /
the announcement OF Rabbi Joseph sirverman's |
Sabbath lecture for the day following. on THE |
Immortality of the Soul" Being curious to know |
how this Jewish theOlogian would treat from the |
pulpit Of skeptic Reform congregation one OF |
the most delicate theoloSicO-philOsOphic prob
lens which. by the way quite recently has been
chosen by Professor Hyslop as the subject Of a
mastery scientific essay in 'The North American
Review" sat down yesterday at the feet OF my
rabbinical friend Of Temple Emmanuel. The
resume Of this combined psychic-philosOphic
theological wisdom on our probable fate in the
realm Of eternity may be OF interest to the
numerous and select clientele OF your esteemed
paper.
DR.. Funk did not dare appear. as he mOdestly
states at the very beginning Of his pro domO
mea ct domo nOstra" manifest. before the
tribune Of Park Row until "the anti-psychic
storm has subsidized" He could as we'll have
said "souless and spiritless opposition for it
really amusing. at least to one who thor
oughly knows. from seven years almost daily
intercourse this hard headed. shrewd publisher.
deep thinker and convinced fighter for truth and
justice, to read all the nonsense which has been
during the last few months heaped upon his
hoary head by irresponsible fools. youngsters
and ignoramuses. trembling in their boots at
the very thought Of ever being placed face to
face with their earthly counterfeit. And now
let us go ahead.
AS Professor Hyslop rightly states, the doc
| trine Of the resurrection had been worked out
long before Christianity had shaped this dogma
with the resurrection Of Christ as the principal
! foundation, by the Pharisee theologians who. 1t
| is true. were vehemently opposed on this very
/ ground by the skeptic Sadducees representing
| the aristocratio mateVialists Of the pre-Chris-
| tian Jewish society Of Palestine and the Dias-
| pora. After somewhat turbulent evolution Of
more than two thousand years the two religio-
| political sects Of ancient Judaism fused into
| one, the Pharisaic Sadducees of contemporary
Jewry These gentlemen and their theological
Wallets are willing to devote money and precious
time to the discussion and eventual publication
Of some dusty manuscript OF the commentary
| to the commentary OF some obscure seventeenth
century Polish rabbi on some insignificant ritual
questions but they would treat you with
naughty contempt If you were to propose to
them seriously the investigation Of problems
like the Immortality Of the SOUL And. there
fore, II for other reasons. DR.. Joseph Silver
man deserves the greatest credit for having
treated with manly frankness In a series Of
Sabbath sermons this important and difficult
! subject, for he really ran the risk Of being
deemed to be behind the times by most Of his
rabbinical colleagues Of our metropolis and
| even Dy some OF the professors OF tn6 IuLuIG
spiritual guides OF American Judaism.
To give in nutshell the respective attitudes
OF our three authorities with regard TO the pos
sibiIity Of a communication of the spirits Of the
deceased with this world Of ours. II may be stated
In general way that DR.. Funk, while being al
ways open to, yea, frankly eliciting, scientific
proofs to the contrary, sincerely believes in fut-
ure life, conscious of and in some touch with Its
earthly phase. Professor Hyslop representing the
strictly scientific standpoint Of the investigator,
pOstulates that the spiritualistic phenomena sug-
gesting the possibility Of the Immortality of the
soul are too numerous and too well authenti-
Gated to be desptsed, even though investigation
should strengthen the cause of skepticism. and
asks. therefore. for their study the same sym
pathetic attention Of the Maecenas Of science
and the scientist is being given TO deep sea
life to polar conditions and biological problems
As to Dr. 'SiIverTnan must confess having only
reached the tail end of his lecture SERIES not TO
be able clearly to expOund his philosophy, but
at liberty to state that he dtsmiSseS without
much ado the spiritualiSttc phenomena rather
inclning toward metempsychosis and reincarna-
tion.
To conclude Orthodox Christian theology. IN
stead of Interpreting the doctrine OF resurrection
and the stories OF demOniac possession and
spirit apparitiOns related in the Gospels IN
the light Of the intellectual environments OF
their authors, has read into the phrases OF the
/ past its own conceptions born Of the influence
of a later philosophy, and has thus uncon-
sCiously become the greatest enemy or true rem
gious belief in general. and especially of that
in the traditional evidence for a future life,
DR.. Charles Cuthbert Hall. president Of the
CPresbyterian) Union Theological Seminary OF
New York, in his excellent st. Louis Exposition
lecture THE Teachings OF Theology, has
with cogent arguments pleaded in behalf of
the transfer Of theological instruction from the
narrow gangways of our semtnartes TO the Wide
corridors of our universities. and having been
placed by the generosity of an anonymous donor
Of 81 100000 in the position Of carrying out, to
some degree at least, this ideal programme or
his we may soon be witnesses Of the Inaugural
ton of new epoch in the study OF religion
Having myself advocated four years ago, or 70
be more precise, at the Judean banquet Of May
u, 1901, which was given in honor OF the editors
and publishers Of the Jewish Encyclopaedia, DR..
| Funk representing the latter. the same policy
as Dr. Hall with regard to the institutions or
Jewish theology may be permitted, in con-
cluding this short epistle of mine to the Gentiles
and Hebrews OF the United States, to recommend
to the authorities Of the Cincinnati Hebrew
| Union College this great and successful school
Of progressive Judaism in this country, TO evolve
with genuine Yankee pluck and without caring
| a whit for the interested criticism OF religious
| politicians liking to fish In troubled waters. an
out and out Reform programme OF studies. so
that its graduates shall become in time the only
and true religious leaders OF the vast and ever
increasing Jewish cOnglOmeratiOn OF the United
States. 1SlDOESE SANGEES
New-York. April ., 1906.