New-York tribune., 1922-03-12
Bryan Joke as
Scientist, Says
DIR. Woelfki,,
Deriding Commoper's A.
tack ON Evolution, Pastor
Calls Him Il Reaciionarv
in the Christian Church
Democracy Religion Need
Asserts Aulocracy Has Got
TO Go Out Of Church and
brotherhood Succeed

The Rev DR.. Cornelius J. Woelfkin
pastor of the Fifth Avenue Baptist
Church, digresscd from set speech
yesterday at the National Republican
Club long enough to declare that as n
scientist William Jennings Bryan is a
joke and representative Of the rcac-
uonary spirit against progress, OBJ
servable even in the Christian churches.
The Rev. Arthur C. McGifert of
Union Theological Seminary, said that
the children of to-day should be taught
from the infant class up TO think kindly
rather than think Ill. and this he
thought was more important than
teaching mere knowledge.
Rabbi Samuel Schulman, of the
Temple Emanuel, pleaded for the de-
vclopmcnt OF the spiritual growth
among the people.
The topic of the day was "Church
influence in World Affairs" The Rev.
Caleb r. Stetson, rector OF Trinity
Church, gave the Invocation. Henry
W. Jessup presided.
Calls Bryan Novice in Theology r
"The watchword Of all true religions
"to follow the lead of the prophets
rather than the lead Of the scribcs.
The reactionary spirit of the day was
clearly shown in the recent session of
the Kentucky Legislature. which, we
are told, was inspired by an address
by William J. Bryan on the general
subject of evolution. While not know
ing Mr.. Bryan personally, I feel that
on the subject of history he is some
what of tyro; in theology novice
and in science joke. In the address,
published in The New York Times he
was engaged in a three -cornered fight.
In one corner he pummcled man of
straw, Darwin, as a biologist having
been discounted for the last twenty
years; in another he was fighting a
scarecrow and in the third corner he
was engaged in shadowbo
DR.. Woelfkin also said that he had
distrusted Colonel Bryan's military
judgment ever since he declared that
with America in danger he could raise
million soldiers over night
In his set address DIR. Woclfkin said
that criticism of the church should be
constructive-that critics ought to look
for the thing that is right rather than
lOi lnc lnlnE tnat is wrong.
"Always in the church there has been
the progressive and the reactionary
movements Democracy and autocracy
have been in a giant struggle for the
last two centuries. England has dcvel-
oped her democracy by a process of
evolution, so that to-day in some re-
spects she is more dem mocratic than
even the United States Autocracy
made its fight in the political world in
the last great war, and democracy Won
The Czars and the kaisers have gone
the way of the Caesars.
more and moro the world Is recog
nlzing that Jesus was essentially
democratic The symbols of His power
were towel and basin. AS the divine
right has gone out of government, so
thing that is autocratc Autocracy
has got to 90 out of the state and out
of the Church. We can't all be Roman
lists, or Jews, or Baptists, but we can
all be brothers.
DR.. McGiffert said that large part
of the influence Of the Church is in
the personal lives of Christians.
Good Will Church's Aim
"The supreme duty of the Church to
day is to promote good will between all
peoples,' he asserted. He then re
ferred to the mischief caused by the
incursion of the Church into politics, a
mission not warranted. Christian prin-
ciples do not allow Christians to be
wrapped up in a single creed or race
Isolation is impossible. In the old
days, DR.. McGiffert said, good deal of
poisonous gas would exist without de-
stroying ones neighbors, but it was
not so now.
DR.. Schulman, touching on Dr. Woelf-
kin's reference to evolution, said !:
"Why worry about whether we de-
scended from the monkeys. The i'm
portant thing is that we do not make
monkeys of ourselves'
On the topic, What the church has