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Show Tho Criuifixion Controversy. A lively and interesting controversy (ia waging between the Rev. Dr. Ar-mitage. Ar-mitage. of tl e Filth avenue Biptist church, and the Rev. Dr. Grilled, of the Fifth avenue Jewish temple, iu the columns of tho Reformer and Jewish Times, the leading Jewish paper of New York. On Easter Sunday Sun-day Dr. Armilago preached on the subject of "Christ's Judicial Murder," and according to the puhlishad reports of his sermon, made use of the following follow-ing expressions: "Jesus fell into the hands of his judicial murderers, a victim of malice aud bate. The Jews' prayer, 'His blaod be upon us and upon our chil-rcn' chil-rcn' And still today the red blot will not out from the souls ol those children. Such is the legal murder, and such ils avengers at the hand of a just and holy God." Thcso words created a great sensation sensa-tion nmong tho Jews, and on tho following Saturday Dr. Gottheil preached before an exceptionally large congregation a Bermon entitled, "Easter Chimes and the Jews," in which he replied to Dr. Armitage, his sermon being published in The World of the following day. Dr. Gotthojl, after deprecating slander against nations na-tions and individuals, declared that tho spiritof Dr. Armitage's utterances was identical with that which in the middlo ages "infuriated the mobs headed by priests with crucifixes in their hands, and sent them like wild beasts into the Jewish quarters to ofier their holocausts of humau beings to the God of mercy and compassiou." lr. Gotthoil continued; "One preacher spoke of 'HeWow hatred' as the cause of the death of Jeaua, and said of all the Pharisees that tho whole sect was characterized by selfishness and invincible hat red of the new teacher. And another, an-other, who painted our fathers as black, as heinous as language would serve him to prove what no man in his senses ever doubted, the wickedness wicked-ness of judicial murder, finally reached the sublime climax in say. ling: 'The red blot will not out from tho souls of the children ot Abraham.' That ia to say that we all of us are still accursed for a deed in which we had no share, in which the nation had no share, and that wo bear the burden of a murderous cry given forth by that portion of a nation which gloats over an elocution." In conclusion, ho demanded the banishment from civilized countries of what he characterizes the "bloody-shirt "bloody-shirt theology." The Reformer followed with an editorial edi-torial in which it declared that "ministers "min-isters of Dr. Armitage's stamp are to the church what the carpet-baggera aro to our politics," and said that "as the latter seek to open afresh the half-bealed wounds of the war, in order to keep themselves in power, so do the former cry continually of the 'murder of Jesus' to fire the Christian heart and retain their bold upon the I community." The following week Dr. Armitoge replied in a letter to the Reformer, in which he denied having used the words imputed to him, and wrote: "No man but a lunatio would hold the Jews or any other people, to account ac-count for what their ancestors did nearly nineteen hundred years ago. And in the diBcourae which has given ao much offense to Dr. Gottbeil, net the slightest reference waa made to lhe Israelites of the present day, nearly or remolely, in one way or aDOther; so that, as a matter ot fact, it would have approached the truth quite aa closely to have represented me as saying that the Jews of to-day hung Judas Iscar-iot. Iscar-iot. The slightest hint from the doctor that he desired to know whether the exact verbal utterances of a discourse which would fill three or four columns of a newspaper, news-paper, but was condensed by a re-porter re-porter into one column, had been given, wouio nave placed my full manuscript man-uscript at his service in a moment, and saved him from the blunder of replying to a charge that waa never made nor thought of by me." Thie, however, did not saiisfy Dr. Gottheil, wao, in a letter to the current cur-rent number of tho Reformer, writes as follows: Dr. Armitage denies having ut-, ut-, tered the words attributed to him on . the judicial murder of Jesus; and further fur-ther says that I might have avoided the bluuder of replying to a charge ' that was never made nor thought of by him if I had first ascertained whether he had boen correctly reported re-ported or not. I, on my part think that it was the duty of Dr. Armitage to disclaim the sentiments imputed to him as speedily aspoasible, and in the eamo place where they had first appeared ap-peared in print and received a wide I1 circulation. For thia was not an ' ordinary miatake of a roporter. Dr 1 Armitage characterizes the thought ' couched in, the exceptionable sen- ' tenoe na that ol a "lunatic," and 1 must have known besides that it of- I fered a cruel insult to thousands of ' his fellow-citizens who never gave c him the slightest provoction. Justice d to Ihom and to himself demanded P with equal urgency that ho should P say at once what has sos h nh. tamed from him by the earnest protests pro-tests of the Jewish pulpit and press. , , Tho less reason bad I to suspect that the doctor was misrepresented as the offensive son tenco does not appear as an intruder, but forma tho logical eequenco of a whole chain of statements state-ments of a kindred spirit. I can almost excuse the. reporter for bis mistake, so naturally i, that climax reached by the steps which Doctor Armitage takes in his euumeration of the consequences of tho "murder of Jesus. But even if tho one sentence be struck out, which I admit to be the most eflensive, is there not Wl aufhcieni that calls for a refutation' Unless the whole drift of his sermon' and especially of that part which w have quoted, has oeen altogether m ii , . , ' ,cmtt "dmit thai felimlo the "blunder of replying; to a charge that M never made? in thought of." Meanwhile Dr. Goltheil preaches at the Temple Emmanuel every other Saturday on the subject o the rell-lions rell-lions of the Jews to Christ. He j, ro. garded m this controversy as the spokesman ol Iho whole body of Jews, lhe letters aud sermons evoked bv Uio discussion are copied and eagerly read all over the country, and arfthe theme of conversation in all Jcr,-i,h Circ es. The controversy ia likely in continue. 3 |