The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-06-01
CHURCHMAN TO APPEAL CONVICTION Will Knock at Every Door For Justice, Says
 Brown CHARGES BASED
 ON g EXTRACTS Cleric Refuses To Retract Statements In Ques-
 tioned Book SYMBOLISM PLEA MADE BY DEFENSE Counsel Denies Repudiation Of Faith Has Been Ex-
 pressed
SYMBOLISM PLEA
 MADE BY DEFENSE
tBy Leased Wire to Ase.Herald)

CLEVELAND, Ohio, May 31.-- Bishop William Montgomery Brown of Gallon, O..io, was found guilty of heresy today by tribunal of hish. . ops of the Protestant Episcopal church.
 When the presiding bishop, John Gardner Murray of Baltimore, sol- emnly read the pronouncement of his fellow bishops in the expectant, crowded chambe of the Old Trinity cathedral here, a verdict was given on the first heresy trial of bishop since the middle ages.
 The case went to the tribunal at 12:3O pm. As Bishop Murray spoke the words that told of Bishop Browns conviction, the aged churchman strained forward neF- vously, his face tense, as he wait ed for the verdict on life spent in the work of the church.
 Smiles Grimiy 5 A grim, disappointed smile came te BrowHis face when the tribunal had pronollne<d AiF1 guilty
 .sK am not through" Bishop Brown declared. T will knock at every door in tae land to get justice.
 Joseph Sharts, counsel for Brown. announced he would appeal the case to the Episcopal board of reviews. He has 60 days in which to file the ap- peal.
 Sentence by the tribunal will be de- ferred pending the appeal.
 The balloting which convicted Brown was done by the nine bishops of the tribunal, garbed in the impressive robes Ot their ecclesiastical office.
 The heresy charges against Bishop Brown were based on twenty-three ex- tracts from his book, Communism and his life, and the change in his atti- tude toward religious problems, Bishop Brown had taken the stand yesterday and declared his complete belief in the Bible, the book of common prayer and the Apostles and Nicene creeds. While he rejected the supernatural in. depreciation of the scriptures, the bishop explained that he believed in them symbolically and had interpreted them in that light.
 Testifying today under cross-examina- tion, Bishop Brown denied that by his confession of faith yesterday he had retracted any of the statements in his book, Communism an. Christianism." :" Questioned by Charles Dibble, church advocate, the bishop reiterated that he accepted the creed symbolically, not literally. After the accused prelate had been on the stand but few minutes, the prosecution rested.
 Joseph Sharts, Browns attorney, based his appeal for acquqittal on the contention that although Brown, in his book, had denied belief in God as an objective reality, he held a symbolic belief in God and the creeds of the church.
 Bishop Brown entered the ministry in 1883. At first, according to the story he unfolded yesterday, he was very orthodox and accepted all the Bibles teachings literally. Then he began to study the books of Darwin and Karl Marx, and delved into astronomy. These studies, he said, swerved him away from supernaturalism. For instance, when he studied astronomy:
 '.I lost heaven. I learned that the Armament was only a reflection of light upon the dust of he air and that there was nothing up there where holy city could be located.'