The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1912-09-16
DENNIS DEFE NOS
EBERT Russell
Orthodoxy of Earlham Bibli-
cal Head Satisfactory to
Friends, He Says.

That the action taken by the West
ern Yearly Meeting of the Orthodox
Society of Friends in appointing a
to investigate the orthodoxy
of the Biblical Department in Earlham
college has not met with the approval
of the college nor the body OF Friends
in general, was evidenced in ser
mon delivered by DR.. David w. Den
dis, of the Earlham faculty, in South
Eighth Street Friends church Sunday
morning.
DR.. Dennis took the position that
the world had progressed beyond that
point where a creed was greater than
the truth.
He said that ignorance and preju-
dice no longer ruled the world of
thought but that an enlightened period
had dawned in which every man was
given the right of way in his religious
and intellectual course; and, he said,
that each stood aside for each and
gave all a respectful hearing.
Trials For Heresy.
In these so-called heresy trials, or in
vestigations into the special orthodoxy
of some exponent of q creed, DR.. Den
mis- stated that the point at issue often
hinged on the Interpretation of some
more or less obscure word, phrase or
entire passage and that in the end it
was of no moment, no matter how 1t
was decided, since there were various
versions which might be interpreted
in a variety of ways.
DR.. Dennis said the Bible, first writ
ten in Hebrew, was later put into the
Greek and had been translated into
various languages and that naturally,
in the different mediums through
which it was interpreted, some mean
ings must be left in doubt; that the
alleged hereto and his prosecutors
might both be right from their own
sources of supply, SO to speak, and
that any decision rendered at such
times was neither authoritative nor
final
DR.. Dennis stated that, so far as FL
bert Russell was concerned, no COM
mittee could touch him.
That if a committee of picked men
were to make an investigation cover
ing a period of ten years they could
not consistently or intelligently criti-
else a man who had given a lifetime
of study to this one department Of
learning.
A Ridiculous Plan.
And that for a committee of unin-
formed persons to be appointed, with
the proviso that they were to report
in two days time, as was this COM
mittee requested to do, only made the
religious organization which they rep
resented ridiculous.
Dr. Dennis further stated that such
committees were appointed not so
much to seek the truth as to stir up
unrest. That they were not doing the
will of God but making God of their
creed.
The speaker further stated that
when an aggregation of persons or an
individual or a religious body sought
than to the substance of their belief,
they were animated not by the spirit
of Christ but by that of prejudice and
intolerance.
DR.. Dennis quoted Kipling's famous
poem which has for it's motif the fu-
tility of people making Gods of their
creeds and of the fallacy of the argu-
ments of such committees as that ap-
pointed to investigate the teachings
of Professor Ebert Russell.
Dr. Dennis paid tribute to Profess
sor Russell's erudition, sincerity and
distinguished achievements and de-
plored the short-sightedness of such
action as that taken at Western Year
ly Meeting.