BAPTIST DISPUTE

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 22, 20 October 1944, Page 4

BAPTIST DISPUTE

Editor Of Journal Replies To Dr. Hodge REVIEW OF POSITION (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) AUCKLAND, October 19. ■ ”By his resignation Dr. Hodge has avoided the necessity of appearing before the assembly of his church to answer the findings against him made by executive officers of the Baptist Union, ’ said Dr. J. J. North, editor of the “New Zealand Baptist,” when commenting .upon the report announcing the resignation, of Dr. Alexander Hodge, of the Auckland Baptist Tabernacle, from the ministerial ranks of the New Zealand Baptist Union. “The position is actually this,” continued Dr. North. “The Baptist Union has in its custody the credentials ot its ministers. The union is under an obligation to vouch for the fitness of those on its list to serve as ministers using the Baptist name. The union was compelled to review the credentials of Dr. Hodge. The proceedings by the commission were controlled by methods prescribed by high legal authority and were conducted without bias. Dr. Hodge had adequate notice aud has been offered copies of all the relevant documents. The unanimous finding of the executive of the union wus that it could no longer vouch for the credentials of Dr. Hodge. “The intention of the executive was that, since the matter was of domestic importance and since it awaited review by the assembly, it should not be giVen publicity through the Press. Dr. Hodge, from the moment of his decision, appealed from the pulpit and the Press to the public so uninformed on the issues. Dr. Hodge circulated among the churches of the Dominion and the officers of both youth and church work his version of the ease, a version which the executive was compelled to describe in the columns of the ‘New Zealand Baptist’ as ‘a medley of half-truths.’ Dr. Hodge’s appeal to the public necessitated the publication also of the unanimous findings of the executive against Dr. Hodge with the signatures attached. “Dr. Hodge proceeded to eject some scores of members from membership, people of blameless character who desired. to retain membership in the church they and their fathers had loved. The ‘New Zealand Baptist,’ knowing that such a proceeding was unprecedented in church practice, defended the defenceless in measured terms. Thereafter Dr. Hodge proceeded to degrade 10 prominent officers of the church by a process which was a travesty of justice. The ‘New Zealand Baptist’ was obliged to expose the proceeding. “Nothing at all would have appeared in the ‘New Zealand Baptist’ but for the compulsions laid upon it by Dr. Hodge himself,” concluded Dr. North. “Dr. Hodge now avoids his appearance before the court of his church to answer the charges. He alleges non-existent ‘propaganda’ against himself in the ‘New Zealand Baptist.’ The public will draw its own conclusions.”