| OCR Text |
Show ATTACKS BIBLE AND W AROUSES STORM OF ; INDIGNATION. Prominent British Scholar and Divine Causes ( Sensation. j Declares Stories In Old Testa- til (ment Are Incredible and !H Demoralizing. Ml "Inspiration' He Asserts, Is ITo ll Longor Allowed to Certify to thr lll Truth of Biblo Statements. ( ill LONDON, April 9. Cai.on Hcnson, ll one of the chief dignitaries of jjll Westminster abbey, and a select fl preacher of both Oxford and Cam- fH bridge universities, has raised a storm IH of criticism by an article in the Con- LH temporary Review, in which he entered lfl into the question of the future of the ll In this article Canon Hcnson lm- Ijl pugns the Inspiration of the Old Testa- , nient, referring to "Its incredible, puer- ll lie or demoralizng narratives," which ' IH are regarded as being "a pack of lies i too gross for toleration." Il Letters, Interviews and resolutions by ll church and lay bodies denouncing I H Canon Hcnson followed the onslaught. I 1 Sir Oliver Lodge, the distinguished H scientist, added fuel to the fire by an H article entitled "Suggestions Toward H the Rcinterpretatlon of the Christian H Doctrine." H This agitation for revised Christian- H Ity led by such well-known men. whose il religious principles even their critics do IIH not dispute, threatens to stir Hip lll cburch to an unprecedented degree. iH Canon Henson declares that "inspl- 1 H ration" is now not "allowed to certify H to the truth of any statement in the 1 H Bible which cannot be substantiated at ( H the bar of reason and evidence." j B In the New Testament he finds lit- j H tic to offend reason or conscience, "but. i whether much or little, it will have to IH go the way of tho Old Testament prod- ItmtmM lfl Suggests a Substitute. jH He recommends supplementing the jH reading of the Bible In church with jH "Christian compositions hlch have IH secured the approval of general ae- H ceptance," declaring that "indlscrlml- IH n ate reading of the Bible in public is H an extremely perilous proceeding," and H adding that "tho rigidity which re- Btrlcts the modern English church to IH canonical scriptures is as indefensible H as it is practically mischievous." H Despite its misuse, Canon Henson H holds that the Bible will continue for all time to be the "best manual of fun- H damental morality and the best cor- f H rective of ecclesiastical corruption," be- i ll sides being the "most effectual cheek IH on ths materialistic tendencies of mod- IH ern life." ! Ifl In a striking analysis of the present tmW social condition. Canon Hcnson attrtb- mMM utes the spread of anarchy, the "ulcer mtMM that Is eating the vitals of society," to jH the disappearance over large areas of IH civilized life of the religious bases of IH morality." Yet he finds an excuse for IH these "non-moral multitudes." who ( IH "from the cradle to the grave have faced the severe pressure of competi- H tion. the squalor of poverty and the , IH miserable exigencies of unmerited ' jH want,"' and who "inevitably comparw IH their condition with the ostentation of IH unearned wealth, the profusion of un- i checked luxury and the Insolence of . unchastened power." The canon says that when It is re- . t Jl mcmbered that "these cruel, shocking ttmM contrasts are no longer regarded with IB the dull stare of fatalistic Ignorance, ftM but In the full light of those doctrines of equality which are the common I pluces of democratic politics," it Is no r( wonder that "the minds of thousands ure predisposed toward the sophistries of anarchy." Against Christian Tradition. fl "It would be idle to deny," he eon- eludes, "that the credit of tho scrip- I jH tures is seriously shaken in the public mind, nor can it reasonably be doubted K mM that the tendencies of popular life as at , MM present prevailing are In tho main hos- 1 tile to Christian tradition." fl In another and similar article Canon 'fBmm Henson, dealing with Christ's resurrec- Lion, auks: H "Is the faith of the church in tho Dl- vine Christ living, present and active. ' H really built on an empty tomb? For. , : ; H myself I prefer to believe that no sucli , tMM intimate vital connection exists be- twecn the truth of Christianity and the 1 traditional notions of Its historical ori- I gins." lij jfl Sir Oliver Lodge asks, "now that re- ' 'B llgion ls becoming so much more real," ' iH whether the "formal statement of some lH of the doctrines we have inherited from 'fl mediaeval and still earlier times can- , ' " MtU not wisely and Inoffensively be modi- , fied?" And shocks many of his core- j j ; llglonlsts by declaring that he regards ' j tho "doctrine of atonement in its con- ' 1 ; fl crete form ns a survival from barbnr- r I ' jmW ous time," repudiating the belief In nn ffll "angry God appeased by the violent JH death of Christ," and maintaining that 'MjmW human nature now is "rising to the mm conviction thut we ure part of nature mtmM and so part of God. In this sense the ,'fl union of divinity is what science some 7(fl day will tell us Is tho Inner meaning of Liil the redemption of man." IBH These outspoken utterances have VEI caused public and prlvato appeals to IPI be inado to the Archbishop of Cunter- f 'H bury, but so far no action has been f H The upshot of Canon Henson's bold I JH declaration that "current und generally lll accepted versions of Christian truth aro 'H becoming Inadequate and unsatisfao- iH tory" is awaited with keen Interest, ifl |
