OCR Text |
Show AT ''BRIMSTONE CORNER." The American Bible league, organized last year for "the defense of the faith in the Bible as the word of God," is to hold its second convention at Boston on Dec. (i, 7, and 8, under the auspices of the Boston branch league. The meeting place is the historic Park Street Congregational church, Avhich is familiarly knoAvn among Xew Englander Unitarians Uni-tarians and Lni-ersalists of the older days as "Brimstone corner." That Avas at a time when the old-fashioned hell fire sermon was popular and before be-fore Protestant theology began to suspect the orthodoxy or-thodoxy of brimstone. We are told that the American Bible league is organized for "the defense of the Bible against the misconducted criticism of the rationalists who nOAV teach within the church, calling it good Christianity, Chris-tianity, Avhat Tom Paine. Yolfaire and others of a hundred years ago taught outside the church as infidelity. The president of the league is William Phillips Hall of the Hall Signal company, the well-known well-known "business man eAangelist"; the general secretary sec-retary is the Rev. Dr. D. S. Gregory, late managing manag-ing editor of the Standard Dictionary and editor of the Homeletic RevieAv; the treasurer is Rush Taggart of the Western L'niou Telegraph company, and in its directorate and membership the league includes many of the ablest scholars and Protestant divines in America. Where will the han-est be after all the talk is over?. Resolutions and speeches on resolutions Avill neither convert the Unitarian nor the Uni verbalist, ver-balist, who ridiculed "Brimstone corner" in the days agone. Denunciation of rationalists will haAe the effect that Avatcr would have when poured over a duck's back. At the end some delegate will move that every man interpret the Scripture to suit himself, and a sIioav of hands will carry the motion. Which act is tantamount to giving the Bible back to the rationalists, the Unitarians and Universalists and declaring that Tom Payne's interpretation is . just as good as any other man's interpretation. |