Monday, Jul. 23, 1923
Trends
Combative Bishop Brown. Tha Right Rev. William Montgomery Brown is the retired Bishop of Arkansas, but he is still an active member of the House of Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church. His book, Communism and Christianism, is one of the handbooks of the Communist Party, and because of the opinions expressed therein the House of Bishops at the Episcopal Convention in Portland, Oregon, last September was asked by the Diocese of Arkansas to depose him. This request was refused by the House on the ground that Bishop Brown was "mentally irresponsible." Then a committee of five bishops was appointed to ask Bishop Brown to tender his resignation voluntarily. He refused to meet them. Last week he sent a letter to the House of Bishops stating the conditions on which he would resign, the nonacceptance of which would force the Church to a heresy trial. The letter includes the following demands on any committee which is sent to interview the recalcitrant Bishop: 1) That all sessions be open to the public and that a court stenographer keep accurate records of the proceedings. 2) That three judges (one picked by Bishop Brown, one by the Presiding Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church, the third by agreement of the other two judges) shall report as to whether or not there is a schism between Anglo-American orthodox Christianism and modern scientism concerning: creation of the universe, Adam and Eve, birth of Jesus, His second coming to raise the dead and other theological questions. Bishop Brown's book denies nearly every cardinal doctrine of the Christian faith. Bishop Gailor declares that "it would be as easy to crush the heretical representations of Communism and Christianism as to smash a fly with a sledge-hammer." The Right Rev. Alexander C. Garrett, the new Presiding Bishop of the House, has called a special meeting in Dallas this Fall. At this meeting the Bishop Brown issue will be thrashed out.
Bibles. The ordinary Gutenberg Bible, of which 41 are known to be in existence, has 641 pages. (This was the first issue of the Bible printed with movable type, 1450, 1455.) Gabriel Wells, a Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, bookdealer, recently sold piecemeal an imperfect copy of 593 pages. Where whole books or chapters were intact, they were sold as units. The splitting up of the book makes it possible for many museums and libraries to have pages of this famous Bible, where it would be impossible to secure whole copies. Those which have benefited under this scheme are: Toledo Museum of Art, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston Public Library, Mc-Gill University, University of Pennsylvania, Vassar College, Colgate University, Newark Public Library. Mr. Wells gave to the New York Public Library enough leaves to complete its copy except for one page. Henry E. Huntington paid $50,000 for a perfect Gutenberg Bible. A Bible printed on movable type can be secured from the American Bible Society today for less than $1.00.
"That Little Drama Is Over."
These words were spoken by Patriarch Meletios Metaxakis to a newspaper reporter as he was being ferried over the Golden Horn to a British warship. He had just finished his last ministrations in the Greek Cathedral at Constantinople, had handed over his ecclesiastical powers to the Holy Synod, and was on his way to the great Greek Orthodox monastery of Mount Athos, in Greece. He had steadfastly resisted Turkish power in " internationalized '' Constantinople. His departure was demanded not only by the Turks, but urged by Venizelos as the only possible means of bringing agreement at the Lausanne Conference. The Turks will now attempt to dissolve the Holy Synod of Constantinople and merge it with the " Turkish Orthodox Church," thus ridding themselves entirely of the offensive word "Greek." (TIME, May 12, July 9.) The Greek patriarchate of Constantinople has been a force since the days of Constantine, 312 A. D. It survived the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453. Will it survive the attacks of the Kemalist Government?