Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-02-18
PRESBYTERIAN PASTOR
ANSWERS DIR. COMFORT
Rev. DR.. Andrew Mutch De-
fends Christianity's Position
in Great War
DENIES 1T HAS FAILED

The Rev. Dr. Andrew Mutch. pastor
Of the fashionable Bryn Mawr Presby-
terian Church. has taken up the cudgels
to defend Christianity in the world war
against the attacks of Dr william Wis
tar Comfort. president of Haverford
College
The clergyman. electrifyng his
wealthy congregation, raked the scholar
over the Goals in his sermon Yesterday
for the statement attributed to him that
tho church has failed in its purposes
Doctor Comfort is out of his depths
in the philosophy of the church." the
minister said firmly. He should confine
himself TO scholarship and leave theo-
logical problems alone.
christianity still is the dominant
factor with regard to moral life"
Doctor Comfort this afternoon was
told Of the clergyman's attack He said
he was not surprised because much of
what he had said h I'd been misquotod
and misconstrued
Some OF my statements appeared as
unqualified assertions when, as matter
OF fact, they were nothing of the kind"
he said THE damage has been done and
| don't propose to go to the trouble of
rectifying the mistages of others"
tie declined to 20 into details.
TIE Rev. Dr. Mutch whose sermon
was carefully buried" yesterday for
fear that It would cause friction in the
Main Line ne'ghborliness existing be-
tween the church and college. was
asked today to elaborate on his remarks.
My only exception to Doctor Comfort
Is in regard to his statement that the
war bowled over Christianity and that
the Church has failed" he explained
Il did not comment on the pacllst uues-
ton. That is another matter entirely.
But ! am tired OF hearirH people
criticize the Church because 1t has not
brought about the millennium. II is
not perfect organization, to be sure
most certainly Christianity has not ac-
complished all that It is destined to per-
form; II Is in a state Of evolution: but
the mere fact that we haven't brought
about perfection does not prove Doctor
Comforts assertion that Christianity
was bowled over by the first cannon shot
on August 4. 1914, and has not been
able to do anything since as he was
reported to have said.
This statement is not true. Certainly
the millennium has not yet come. But
that does not prove that the Church has
failod and Christianity Is useless"
The clergymans sermon was based
on an Old Testament text-Jotham's
parable of the trees. spoken from Mount
Gerizn, as recorded in Judges. iN, BIB.
In this parable. the trees, seeking king
to reign over them, ask the olive tree.
the fig tree and the vine. successfully,
to accept the crown, but each refuses
on the ground that IL cannot leave the
particular province for which 1t is fitted.
No such limitations, however, AFFECT the
hTamhle when the scepter Is offered to
it, The Inference that the congregn-
ton gathered from the application of
Doctor Comforts statements to the par
able was that the pastor was placing
the college president in the role of the
hrambe, which reached out into sphere
not It's own.
The statement that drew fire from
the clergyman was made by Doctor
Comfort February 10. when he ad-
dressed an Ardmore Forum meeting at
the woman's club on the church in the
war. This followed an earlier decla-
ration-that the church had failed
made by Doctor Comfort last November