THE PRESBYTERIANS AND THE CREED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11686, 22 June 1901, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE PRESBYTERIANS AND THE CREED.

AN IMPORTANT DEBATE ON PRO-

POSED CHANGE,

Philadelphia, Pa., May 24.—Presbyterian America is just now in the frantic swirl of a maelstrom, and the vortex of the maelstrom is Calvary Church, in this serene and quiescent c it v.

The subject under discussion is a change iu the old-fashioned creed, which is sanctified by its longevity. Two hundred years, that is tj say, s;i generations, have made it a, religious autocrat, and the burning question is whether it can be safely altered to meet ihe requirements of a time whose miracles of scholarship and science the stern old Calvin i ever dreamed of, or whether it is better to live iu the ivy-covered, house without making .my improvements. ibis liter ci revision lias been mooted lot many year's, but the clergy have always iouglit shy of it. Ten years ago it came very near 10 going tlircugh, but its progress was interrupted and it was quietly laid on the table to await " i more convenient season.' .Since that time, however, both clergy and laity have been more or less feverish m an intermittent sort ol way. The Presbyttiies have frequently discussed the matter, but it has never taken definite shape in the General Assembly, having been courteously thrust aside and put to sieep by a motion to postpone. A committee was appointed last year to get at the wishes of the whole Church, as la- as possible, and report at this session of the Assembly. The committee could not agree, however, as to the recommendations tj be offered, and tLerefoie a large majority report and a slender minority report were piesented this nu-.i'T g. About, two-fifths are in favour and twofifths are opposed to the proposed change, while the one-fifth that remains holds the lakti.ee of power. The following are the sections of the Confession the entire committee would modify : —"By the decree of Cod for the manifestation of His yiory some men and angels are pi edesi "mated unto everlasting life and others lore ordained to tveiiasting death." "Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated and saved by Christ through the ."••lint who worketh when and where and how He ploiseth. So also are all elect other persons, who are incapable of being outwardly called bv the ministry of the Word."

" I.Wre is no other' Lead of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor can the Pope of Rome in any sens.' be head thereof; but is that anti-Christ, that man of sin and sun of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ and all that is called God."

The majority report favours the. appointment of a* committee to prepare summary of leformed faith, bearing the same relation to the Confession which the Shorter Catechism hears to the Larger Catechism. his summary "not to be substitute for the confession, and not to affect the terms of subscriptions" but " to vindicate and clear the doctrines of the Church from false aspersions and misconceptions." Recommends that new committee be instructed to prepare amendments to the confession of faith, either by modification of text, or by declaratory statements, "so as more clearly to express the mind of the Church concerning the love of Cod for all men, missions, and the Holy Spirit, it being understood that the Revision shall in no way impair the integrity of the system of doctrines set forth in our Confessions."

I lie minority port agrees with recommendations of majority except as to preparation of summary of the Reformed Faith, which it opposes, declaring such summary to be an additional standard of orthodoxy, liable to all the objections which lie against the new creed. The Rev. Dr. Charles A. Dickey opened tile battle royal, presenting the majority report and making a rousing speech. If twothirds of the Presbyterians, and that is a fact, want changes in the cieed, he said, they have a rk'Nt to be heard, and the Assembly cannot afford to brush their wishes aside. The world has made progress in everything else ; wliv not in the statement of religious truth? We revere our fathers, but they were not infallible, The terrors of the Lord are prominent in the creed and the love of God should have an equal place. The floor was with the speaker, and even the crowded galleries were unrestrained.

The Rev. Dr. William McKibben said : —

" The Confession should be made clear on the subject, of elect infants. It, should be demonstrated to this generation that God's grace lays hold in the act of death, and glorifies the infant into transformation when it lakes the child from its mother's heart." The Rev. Dr. Derrick Johnson said: — "The authorities of the creed are not infallible. They wrote some things in it which we do not' believe to lie true and failed to write some things which we hold to be true I hey wrote of the Pope: 'That anti-Christ, man of sin and son of perdition.' We repudiate that belie?, and why should it be allowed to remain? Wo have ha? the creed 250 years, and will be following (he footsteps of the Westminster divines if we make a new one. The way is open to us to do as < MiWestminster fathers did. What liberty had they we do not possess?" Regarding predestination Dr. Johnson said : — "I do not arraign the doctrine of divine election, but to shut mercy up to the elect is to taki away its glory. We want nothing but fidelity to the truth. Truth is two sided."