Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-28
.CRAPSEY ON DOGMA
He Has a New Greed and Pre-
diets Decline of Old.
GET SALVATION BY LOVE
New System Teaches It by Service,
Not by Substitution.
CONSCIENCE MUST JUDGE GOOD
No Longer Will People Submit to
God Of the Old Dogma,
He Says.
GET SALVATION BY LOVE
CONSCIENCE MUST JUDGE COOL

ROCHESTER,, January 2S.-The Rev. DR..
Crapsey delivered the last Of his series OF
four lectures on 1.-THE Present Crisis In the
Churches" last evening in the Lyceum
Theater His subject was 1.-THE Great Re-
construction"
DR.. Crapsey began his lecture by a refer
ence to the prophet jeremiah to whom the
word Of the Lord came saying, "See. have
this day set thee over the nations and over
the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down,
and to destroy, and to throw down, to
build, and to plant" He said in part:
1.-THE work laid upon this prophet by
these words was both destructive and con-
structive. The work Of destruction came
first jeremiah gave notice to the king, the
prisoners and the priests Of the people OF
the speedy overthrow of their powers. He
said the Chaldeans should come and lay
waste the cities of Judah overthrow the
walls Of Jerusalem burn the temple WIZ WIZ
fire and carry the people into captivity with
their king, their princes and their priests;
There are prophets today who see the
speedy decline and fall Of that vast dog
matte system upon which the Ghriseia .a
churches and denominations with some
minor exceptions) base all their religious
teaching The prophet IL not Responsible
for this decline of dogma; he only declares
it. The dogma has been disntegrateo py
senlightened conscience. 1t has lost its hold
on the mind and heart Of the wise and the
good, and is being destroyed by the logic
of events.
God Of tho Dogma.
1.-THE angry, capricious, proud, Jealous
God Of the dogma no longer satisfies the
enlightened conscience Of the age, which
must find in God the qualities which 1t COM
mends in man. The dogmatic, with its COM
plicated system of communion with God,
with its intricate, immoral doctrines Of
SINS with it's harsh condemnation of intel
lectual error, must give place to simple
system Of communion a more natural doc
trine Of forgiveness and tuster appreci-
alton Of the relation of reason to truth.
1.-THE authority Of the church over the
reason and conscience Of man is gone never
to return Never again will the mind of
man submit itself to the rule of a hierarchy
of priests. No pope or bishop; priest or
reason of man. The reason of man cannot
be commanded it can only be persuaded.
Reason must convince reason.
Nor will the moral sense of man again
submit itself blindly to external guidance.
No order of priests can any longer stand
between the soul and God Instruction the
conscience will gladly receive, but 1t must
at least judge for itself concerning the
right and the good.
Will Reverence Bible.
Nor will the people submit their reason
and conscience to the keeping Of a book
written by men Of old. No power can ever
restore the Bible to that throne from which
it has so long ruled the thoughts of men,
Men will reverence the Bible, but they will
also Judge the Bible; they will sift it and
separate the chaff from the wheat 1t is
vain to think of keeping the Bible in sacred
isolation. 1t has taken its place among the
oraat ltera tureS the world and c,,ob
it must submit to the literary judgment of
man.
But you will ask what is coming In the
matte which Is dispeling the old is not
really new; it is the revival of a dogmatic
older than the dogmatic of the churches
1t is the dogmatic of the prophets, the wise
God from time to time for the restoration
of his people. 1t is the dogmatic of that
teacher, come from God, whom the Chris