The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1923-05-21
PASTOR DECLARES
DRIFT IS TOWARD
BIBLELESS Church
Dr., Mccartney Answers Crit
les of Christ and New
Testament

events in the Protestant Church to-
day is toward a church without
Bible and a church without Bible is
4 church without a cross and without
i Christ" DR.. Clarence Mccartney,
moderator of the Philadelphia presby
terry, Sunday at the Meridian St. NJ.
T. Church hurled a direct challenge
t. the alleged doctrinal views of Dr.
Harry Emerson Fosdick. a Baptist
minister preaching in the First Pres
byterian Church, New York City.
The declaration Of DR.. Macartney's
fight against heresy in the Presby-
terrain pulpit is a singal for a coming
fight on the floor of the Presbyterian
General Assembly when the assembly
considers the report Of the bills and
overtures of the Fosdick case
1t was the presbytery over which
DR.. Mccartney presides that wrote the
Philadelphia overture" protesting
against the alleged heresy views of
DR.. Fosdick. It Is this overture that
the committee is considering today.
Christ NIisconstrued
I'VE protest against the handling
Of the facts Of the New Testament
which are derogatory to the honor
and the claims of Jesus Christ. and
which leaves US a Christ one-third
man. one-third impostor and one-third
myth" declared DR.. Mccartney
THE New Testament leaves us In no
doubt as to the overwhelming glory.
the awful claims and the eternal
cxistance Of this tremendous per
sOnality. Jesus Christ Upon that
person rest all our hopes as sinners.
There has arisen within the
church a way Of dealing with the
recorded earthly life Of Jesus Christ
which tends to diminish reverence for
Him and His redemptive authoritive.
A popular preacher Of the day CON
cludes a sermon on what he calls the
Divinity Of Christ by telling the story
of a painter who stood before the
canvas of a great master. Instead
Of feeling discouraged or depressed by
the great contrast. he proudly and
generously exclaimed. 7, too am a
painter" So man looks upon Gods
masterpiece. Christ, and exclains. Z.
too am a son of Cod
Discusses Virgin Birth
When they come to the New Tes-
lament narratives Of the nativity of
our Lord, how He was born of the
Virgin Mary. they either accept it.
hut say It makes no difference whether
& is true or not. or whether a man
believes 1t or not. or they reject il
as a fact and account for the legend
as an expression Of the efforts Of the
followers Of Jesus to account for the
legend as an expression Of the efforts
of the followers Of Jesus to account
for his pre-emjnent personality. 1ust
as the pagans credited their great
persOnages with supernatural genera
,iUn.
But this view Of the virgin birth
is derogatory to the honor Of Jesus
Christ II takes from US the one &C
count that we nave of the way in
which the word became flesh. It de-
strOys one of he carefully stated rea.
sons for the divine sonship of Jesus.
ct breaks down the authority OF
the New Testament Tt is not ques.
ton as TO whether or not the Son OF
God could not have become incanate
through a human father, as we'll as
through a human mother, not a ques.
ton as to what God might have done
or ought to have done, but what God
has done. The Christ of the New
Testament was born of the Virgin
Mary. We know no other Christ"
Defends Miracles
In discussing the attack upon the
miracles Of Jesus, DR.. Mccartney
said: Il would rather believe in the
Jesus who existed and worked miracles
than in Jesus who worked no miracles
and who never existed"
we are protesting against any ser.
mon," he said, in a Christian pulpit
on the death Of Christ which might
just as well have been preached on
the death Of Socrates. We are pro
testing against a preaching of the
cross where the offense Of the Cross
has ceased. We are protesting against
preaching Of the way of life which
gives mankind some other way and
some other hope than that OF the new
and living way which Christ opened
for us by his own death upon the
cross.
We have a school Of teachers and
preachers who claim great affection
and reference for the Bible, but
whose whole method of teaching It is
of a. nature to weaken its authority
and create doubt in mems minds as to
whether or not God has spoken tc
man." he said