Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-07
CLERGY IN BONDAGE
Dr.. Crapsey Lectures on the
intellectual Crisis"
HIS VIEW OF THE CHURCH
Declares That It Has Lost All Au-
thority Over Thought.
GARDEN OF EDEN IS A MYTH
No One Believes First Chapter Of
Genesis, Says the
Lecturer.

ROCHESTER,, January REV. DR.. A. s.
Crapsey, recently deposed by Bishop w. D.
Walker. D. D.. from the Episcopal Church
on a charge of heresy. gave the first lee
ture Of his series on the Present Crisis in
the Churches in the Lyceum Theater last
night. There was hearty applause from an
audience that filed the theater. st. An
drew's Church, from which DIR. Crapsey
was deposed. had a small congregation to-
night. .s., ..-,
After saying that almost within the
memory Of living men ..ie Garden Of Eden
was considered to be as real as Central
Park in New York city. that Adam and
Eve sinned ant were -banished from the
Divine Presence and that the whole scheme
of redemption. as pictured by. the church
In its theology, is scheme to overcome
the consequences of this primordial act Of
disobedfence. DR.. Crapsey said:
This framework has been utterly de-
molished by historical science. There never
was any Garden of Eden. any more than
there. was a Garden of the Hesperides.
Adam Is as NEUROLOGICAL as Hercules, and
the development of man has been brought
about by historical causes. s'
Instead Of beginning a perfect being
man starts upon his career from the tree
top and the cave and through much tribu-
latton enters into the kingdom Of reason
and Of conscience. 20 one Of reasonable
intelligence and education today believes
that the first chapters Of Genesis are genu-
inc history We know them to be nothing
more than the myths and the legends OF
the east. as these were made over by the
genius of the Hebrew. writers.
Weakness Of the Church.
1.-The weakness Of the church lies In this
and it will not face the fact. Itreserves
to itself the right to say that at certain
points in the history of the development Of
life the orderly process was Interrupted. 1t
can give no sufficient proof for this. it's
assertion. and therefore 1t refuses to rea-
son about it or present evidence. but en-
forces 1t under fear of damnation.
But the time mas passed when the
church has any authority over human
thought. and therefore. unless the church
is prepared to admit frankly the modern
conception, 1t must necessarily lose all hold
over the modern mind. And this really is
the crisis that is now at hand. Men are
choosing their sides. Earnest, thinking
what Is the duty Of the clergy? Is 1t
not to acquaint themselves, 80 far as they
can, with the whole history Of religious de-
ments Of their own religion in the religion
Of the stranger. SO perfectly do the organ
izations understand this that they care
fully segregate the teachers Of their re-
priest is carefully protected from all con-
tact with the outer world of thought. The
cold winds Of pure reason are not permit
ted to blow upon him. He lives In a
FOOLS paradise.
Not Natural Leaders, -.
"And so I say 1t has come to pass that
in our day the clergy. instead Of being the
natural leaders Of the race. as they were
in the days of the Greek fathers and as
they were in the Middle Ages. are today
the rear guard of the intellectual and spir-
itual movement.
1.-The priesthoods of the world have al
ways been prone to keep the people in tgno-
rance It Is easier to rule an ignorant and
submissive people than 1t Is to rule people
who are wide awake and Of inquiring mind.
And It Is because priests have sought the
easier way and have followed the line OF
the least resistance that priesthoods are
ever falling into disrepute.
There can be no situation in lire more
deplorable than that of a man who knows
the truth and dares not utter 1t. The laity
have long since shaken themselves loose
from It. and do their own thinking and
speaking without the fear or favor OF tue
priesthood. The laity do indeed stand In
fear of one another. but it Is the clergy VINO
are today In the bitter bondage In which all
men were held during those ages when the
church dogma was supreme. and when TO
depart from the church dogma was crime
to be punished by fire and stake. Until
the church organizations are ready TO per-
init the intellectual freedom that now pre-
walls in the outside world. the church or
eanizatfons must be content to be without
Intellectual or spiritual influence, to have
not the first, but the last place In the great
work of bringing man into the kingdom OF
fri