New-York tribune., 1922-10-15
Declares He Will Not Re.
sign and Dares Accusers
to Assert They Inter-
pret the Bible Literally
Insists on Sanity
Test by Doctors
Upholds Statements in
Pamphlet on sCommun-
ism and Christianity

Bishop William Montgomery Brown.
charged with heresy before the recent
! Episcopaiian convention because OF
statements in his pamphlet "Commun-
ism and Christianity" in which he re-
fused to accept a literal Interpretation
o1tAe biblical story Of creation, served
notice on the bishops of the Church
last week that he will not resign and
thatthe will fight trial for heresy.
| He made public yesterday series of
letters addressed to the bishops, in
which he demanded, first, an examina-
tion Of his sanity before board Of
physicians; or, second, trial for
hercsy; or. third, complete abandon
ment Of the charges against him. He
stated in the last letter that he had
learned that committee of three had
been appointed at the convention for
the purpose Of, obtaining his resigna-
tion from the House Of Bishops. He
would refuse to meet this committee.
he said, and was determined not to
leave the House of Bishops volunsa rily
unless "the other heretical members"
accompanied him.
Letter States Position
A letter dated October 10, and adj
dressed to Bishop Manning Of New
York, states hissposition in brief as re-
4 CARDS the historical and biblical inter
pretations Of history. He says:
i There probably is not, among edu-
Gated people, one in a thousand who
literally accepts the basic representa-
y mr. q ~ hH,J ,Scv,n
tion of man and his fall or of Paulin
ism concerning his redemption.
| On the other hand, there certainly
/ are ninety-nine out of every hundred
J who accept the basic representations
OF Darwinism concerning the evolution
! of the body, mind and soul of man by
natural materialistic processes by ami
NAL ancestors, and of Marxism concern
ing the determination of his progress
out Of barbarism into civilization, by
! the natural evolution of the material
lstic systems Of economics by which he
has fed, clothed and housed himself.
4 Not only the first and second
+ Adams, but also the Judgment, heaven
and he'll or orthodox Christianity have
become utterly impossible as prosa;c
facts. can and do accept them with
the whole system of Christian super
naturalism as poetic fictions and SYM
bols."
Resigned as Bishop in 1911
4 Bishop Brown is sixty-six years
old and retired from his post as
!! Bishop of Arkansas In 1911 on account
I of ill health. Since then he has lived
4 in Gallon, Ohio. His pamphlet, "Com-
Imunism and Christianism," was the sub
4 ject of a memorial from the Diocese
Il OF Arkansas, presented to the conven-
\ ton at Portland, Ore, in September,
and demanding that he be brought to
trial for heresy.
4 Following the convention. he ad-
dressed q letter to the bishops on Sep
Il tember 25, in which ne referred to
4 your belief that my mental condition
4 is such as to prevent me from being
lheld responsible for the heretical rep
resentations Of the booklet, Com
i munism and Christi anism.'"
4 He then proposed to undergo an ex-
Il animation as to his mental condition.
which should be conducted by the pro-
fessors of psychology in Yale, Colum-
1 bia and Johns Hopkins universities
/ verdict, but that he would not accept
i any decision from the House of Bish-
4 ops as to his sanity, as they were not
j authorities on the subject
/ Bishops Views Demanded
i He then demanded that the House
4 Of Bishops should make clear it's own
! attitude toward the literal interpreta-
4 tion Of the Bible, saying:
4 IF the members of the House of
/ Bishops will place themselves on rec
ord as believing the representations
/ OF the Bible, literally interpreted, con-
4 cerning the creation Of Adam and Eve,
I the planting Of the Garden of Eden, the
4 fall Of Adam and Eve and its effects,
4 the birth of Jesus, His death and de-
scent into hell, His resurrection and
ascension into heaven and His second
coming to raise all deceased men, wom-
/! en- and children from the dead and to
Judge and send them to heaven or
4 hell, / will resign and do hereby agree
/ to resign my seat in the house"
\ He added that if they did not accept
j the first of these offers (that for
! sanity examination) they SHOULD not
reflect upon my mental condition IN
/ public or private"
Line Of Defense Forecast
/ The last letter declared that he
would fight a heresy trial and would
1 attempt to show in his defense:
"(1 That all are heretics who DO not
1 accept in their literal sense the repre-
/ senAations Of the Bible specified in my
challenge;
| n(2) That several bishops have been
permitted to live and die in the An-
! glican Communion who are on record
4 as rejecting the orthodox, literal IN.
Iterpretation of several among them,
| and .s9
a(s) That can and do accept them
ali. il only | may interpret them sym
/ boiically. reject no one among such.
articles, but only give to each an
1 heretical, naturalistic interpretation
rather than the orthodox, supernatural
istics one, and many bishops have done
! and are doing this In the case of some
among the articles
/ Bishop Manning was out Of town last
nirht andNcould not be reached to as