Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-11-29
.CRAPSEY out:
BOWLING TO THE WILL OF THE
CHURCH, HE LEAVES THE
PRIESTHOOD.
BELIEVES IN JESUS
But Does Not Believe "The Great
and Living God Had to vio-
late His Wonderful Law of
Human Generation.

Rochester, N. Y.-Bowing to the will
Of the church, but refusing to make a
"cowardly ~retraction" of the belief
which induced the church to terminate
his ministry, Rev. Algernon S. Crap
sey, rector of st. Andrews church, of
Rochester, has renowned his minis
try in the Protestant episcopal church
in a letter to Bishop William David
Walker, of the Western diocese of
New York. In this letter Rev. Mr..
Crapsey reaffrmed his belief that the
notion of the origin of Jesus, that a
son Of man was born without a human
father, is without foundation" in his
tory.
He also asserted that when | say
Of Jesus that He assembled into heaven,
do not mean, and cannot mean,
with His physical body of
flesh, blood and bones, He floated into
space, and has for 1000 years been ex-
listing somewhere in the sky, in that
very physical body of flesh, blood and
bones. Such an existence would seem
to me not glorious, but horrible"
Appeals to the People
Il appeal" he says, from those in
places of authority in the church itself
to the great body of people"
He asserted, that he does not blame
his judge, and though he bows to their
will. and feels that 1t is final for him,
he says: Il am equally certain that
1t is not final for the church,"
Having let go of the temporary and
unstable interpretations of the creed"
he declares that he holds more firmly
to the gospel"
His Position Defined.
In his letter Rev. Crapsey says:
What l do mean by this phrase, when
I say of Jesus that He assembled ETC.,
Is that Jesus, having accomplished His
work in the flesh, assembled into the
higher life of the spirit. Also when
l say of Jesus that He was conceived
by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin
Mary, do not mean that the great
and living God, in order to get into
His world, had to violate His wonder.
full law of human generation, break
into sanctities Of marriage, and cause
a son to be born without a human IA
Their. Such a notion is most repugnant
to my ideal of a wise and Holy God.
| was not therefore alarmed; I was
relieved when a careful study of the
holy scriptures convinced me that this
notion of the origin of Jesus was with.
out foundation in history. Jesus was
not lessened in my worship. He was
e%nnobled by this discovery. When !
reached the conclusion, as I did some
years ago, that the infancy stories
were not historical, I did not cease to
believe in Jesus. I believed in Him
all the more, and I gave to the words,
Conceived by the Holy Ghost, born OF
the Virgin Mary an Interpretation
that harmonized with my knowledge
Of the facts. He was a child Of the
Holy seed, sanctified from his moth.
er's womb. A son of God all the
more in my estimation because he was
the son of man..
Now this conception of Jesus, based
upon a careful study of holy scrip.
lures, is Of the very warp and wool
Of my intellectual and spiritual life,
and it is not probable that 1t will ever
change. I will carry 1t with me into
that spiritual world, where I shall see
Jesus face to face"