t• 7 \ VESIMirtI4II John :Weir 18ju/Y67 New Series, Vol. IV, No. 16. amtritan EttstiOntiait. THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1867 SUMMARY AND COMPARATIVE VIEW OF DOCTRINE. Our position in these articles may at this point be properly restated. Embracing the Westminster Confession of Faith, "as con taining the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures," we claim equal rights with any other section of the Church in interpreting these Standards; and under the charter of the Adopting Act of 1729, as American Presbyterians, we claim certain other rights of assent or dissent, but all within the easily defined limits of the spirit and intent of the Confession, and in entire harmony with the system of doctrine which it contains. There need be no doubt or dif ficulty in this matter with those who really wish to agree. The cry raised against what is called the New School part of the Ameri can Presbyterian Church, as unfaithful to the Standards, accomplishes nothing so ef fectively as to reveal the peculiar type of mind of its authors, or their peculiar aspira tions in the councils of the Church; while it gives, so far as it is believed, to the West minster Confession and to the Presbyterian Church of this country, most unfairly and injuriously, the attitude of rigidity, severity and assumed infallibility, as if Rome and the Pope themselves had assumed the Presbyte terian name. Not a single dectrinal opinion has gained currency in what is known as the Nev School branch of the Presbyterian Church, which may not readily be shown to be per fectly consistent with the purport and drift of the Confession, and with an ex animo adoption of it, as " containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures." Not a claim for liberty is asserted, which in . the sl ightogt dogroo und ormineft or imp villa' the Calvinistic structure of doctrine. No tendency has appeared in the history of the New School body to cut loose from the Standards, which are printed unaltered and in various forms by our Publication Com mittee, taught in our Sabbath-schools and families, and solemnly subscribed to by all the official persons in the Church. They aro our inheritance and our glory as Presby terians. Their fulness and compactness, their richness as of - honey gathered from all the flowers of the fully developed theology of the Reformation, their unction and their evangelic fervor, testifying to something far beyond mere intellect in their authors—the pectus quod facit theologum—have made them dearer to us than any other human compo sition- dearer because not viewed as the letter which enslaves and which kills, but as the spirit which is liberty and life. Let us look at some of the leading doc trines of the Confession, placed side by side with statements which represent the doe- New School:" trinal position of the CONFESSION Chap. VI. 3. "They[our first parents] being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was ini= puted, and the same death in sin and corrupted na ture conveyed, to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary genera tion." VI. 4. "From this ori ginal corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made oppo site to all good,and wholly inclined to all evil, do pro ceed all actual transgres sions." VI. 3. "The guilt of this sin was imputed . . to all their posterity." IX. 1. "Clod hath en: clued the will of man with that natural liberty that NEW SCHOOL "By a Divine constitu tion, Adam was so the head and representative of the human race, that as a consequence of his transgression all mankind become morally corrupt and liable to death, tem poral and eternal."—Au burn. Convention, 1837. " Oriinal sin is a na tural bias to evil, result ing from the first aposta cy, leading invariably and certainly to actual trans gression."—lbid. "Born with a depraved nature." Barnes' De ence. "By reason of the sin of Adam in his peculiar relation, the race are treated as if they had sin ned."—Aub. Con. "All the sufferings to which the posterity of Adam are subjected, in consequence of his sin, are designed as evils of a judicial nature, intended to set forth his [God's] abhorrence of the crime." —Barnes' Defence. " In virtue of the union, representative and natu ral, between Adam and his posterity, his sin ,is 'the ground of their con demnation, that is,, o their subjection to penal evils."—Dr. Hodge Com. on Romans. "Sinners have all the faculties necessary to a perfect moral agency and CONFESSION it is neither forced, nor by any absolute necessity of nature determined to good or evil." IX. 3. "Man by hie l fall hath wholly lost aIIJ ability of will to any spi ritual good accompanying salvation— —is not able by his own strength to convert himself or to prepare him self thereunto." VII. 3. "The Lord was pleased to make a second [ covenant ] commonly called the covenant of grace, wherein he freely offereth unto sinners life acid salvation by Jesus Christ." It is true there is a want of fulness* in the Confession on this latter point, yet we have no idea that .th e.,WestirrOntatcrwilivincua-rnofirt-f, to construct their system so as to leave no room for it. We do not believe they meant to ostracise sentiments which must have been known to be those of John Calvin, in his later life and at his dying day; senti ments which he put into his will just before he died in such memorable words as the fol lowing: Sanguine summi illius _Redemeoris, effuso pro humani generic peccatis ; i. e. '"the blood of that exalted Redeemer, shed for the the sins of the human race." Nor is there in New .School doctrine any statement which can be fairly pUt as an equivalent to the realistic proposition— " sinned in him and fell with him," how ever much some " Old School" leaders wish to persuade themselves that in denying real ism they are not dissenting from the Con fession. We are with Dr. Hodge in repudi ating realism as a theological dogma, but we are not with him in the assumption that he is consistent with the Confession in denying it. In short, if Dr. Baird in the Elohim Re vealed, and Samuel Rutherford among the Westminster Divines, who said,. " We sinned intrinsically in Adam, as parts, as members, as being in his loins," be Old School, then Dr. Hodge, who says, in the Biblical. Reper tory: "There is no mysterious oneness of the race, no transfer of moral character, no, as sumption of the moral guilt of men for the sin of Adam involved in the doctrine" of imputation,—is as much New School as is Mr. Barnes. Or rather, both are older than any "Schools," having discarded human philosophy and gone back to the simple statements of Scripture. This, then, is the height of our offending : to believe, with Dr. Hodge, that imputation means nothing more than that Adam's sin is the ground of our subjection to penal evils; to believe, with John Calvin, that Christ died for the sins of the whole world, and to believe, with Jonathan Edwards, in regard to the will, "that the thing wanting is not a being able, but a being willing." This is what makes us "New School," lati tudinarian, unsafe, ineligible to equal rights, and the like. It is the least that can be de manded of those who make such charges, that they agree among themselves what the meaning of the Confession on such a doe- * This is precisely the language of Rev. Charles J. Brown, of the Free Church of Scotland, in a paper read by him by appointment, at the Bicenten ary celebration of the Westminster Assembly, Edinburgh, July, 1843, under the Chairmanship of Dr. Chalmers. Mr. Brown said: " Considering the vast importance of this matter, and its prominence in the Scriptures, I should be disposed very humbly to say 'that there was a certain want of fulness with reference to it in the Westminster Standards."—Bi centenary,'Cincinnati, 1845, p. 213. • • PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1867. NEW SCHOOL a just accountability."— Auburn Convention. "Man is wholly in clined to evil and opposed to good."—Mr. Barnes. "The thing wanting is not a being able, but a being willing. Nothing is wanting but a will."— Tonathan, Edwards. " The error of those who assert that the sinner lhas no power of any kind for the performance of duty, strips the sinner of I his moral agency and ac countableness, and intro duces the heresy of Anti nomianism, or Fatalism." —Dr. S. B. Wilson; Dr. Plumer and others,lB36. "Independently of the influence or almighty en ergy of the Holy Spirit, they never will comply with the commands of God."—Auburn Conven tion. "By virtue of this atonement, overtures of mercy are sincerely offer ed to the race."—./ bid. "All the sins of man kind are become venial. in respect of the price paid by Christ to his .Father, but all do not obtain ac tual remission, because most offenders do not take out, nor plead' their par lon, as they ought to do." —Letter of Arbp. Ussher, ••ead and recommended to kis class by Dr:Chalmers. "Albeit Christ suffered for the sins of the whole world and be - indifferent ly, through the goodness of God offered unto all, yet all do not receive him."—Calvin on Rom. vi 18. • trine, for example, as Imputation, really is; that they decide whether John Calvin or Dr. Hodge is to be regarded as authority in interpreting passages bearoThg on Calvinistic doctrine; whether a doctrine which was in vogue among Calvinists before the date of the. Confession, but which was not distinctly mentioned in that instrument, is to be con sidered New School; whether, when ,two sorts of opinions may be traced in the Con fession, either of them is tmy "older," theo logically speaking, than the other; whether a teacher of veritable New School doctrine is to be called "Old School," because he happens to be a professor in a theological seminary in that branch of the Church; whether, in fine, the term Old School is not the mere badge of partizanstip, indicating a certain set of men who got the control of the 'Presbyterian Church, and who gave the term New School as one of opprobrium to those who did not choose to be ruled by them, whatever their doctrinal views might be. A NON-COMMITTAL REPLY. In our issue of March 21st, we addressed a respectful inquiry to such of our cotempo raries of the other branch as had not pre viously expressed themselves, upon the pre cise terms of the Be-union of the two branches, which they were understood to favor. Our language was as follows: " We ask these papers, one of which is the special representative of the union movement in the other branch, whether the Anion they favor is one in which what is commonly understood as the New School Theology—on the extent of the atonement, moral ability and original sin—will be recognized as having equal rights in the Church' that taught in Vrinceton;Allegheney, Danville, or Chicago ?" To this question the Pittsburg Banner made a prOmpt reply, Which, though not direct, was sufficiently clear to place it upon the old exscinding platform. The Cincinnati Presbyter, however, which htv§ taken the lead alfmng - the - organs -- dr , - r,r6 r ' branch, in • advocating Re-union, and Which, up to the time of our inquiry, had been discoursing of Re-union by , the column, instead of making a prompt and liberal reply, at once lapsed into total silence ; and after three • weeks of lucubration, it comes out in its issue of April 11th, with a reply, the evitlent per plexity of which is distressing to all who ad mire candour in religious journalism. It does not pretend to be a direct answer to our query, which is not quoted save through another, and we are compelled to say,. a very unfair source—The North-western Pres byterian. In the first part of the article, the _Presby ter "has a few words to say in response to the interrogatories ;" in the last part, the editor, t' as a member of the re-union com mittee " has " no opinions to express in an swer to the AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN." In one paragraph it says : " If, however, one party insists upon the ipsissima verba subscription, or the other upon the substance of doctrine adoption of our standards, re-union will be impracticable. If the great majority adopt our standards in the same spirit as well as words, re union will be effected in the fulness of time." In another, quoting from the Pittsburg Banner's response to our question, it says: "We accept as our own every view ex pressed by the Banner, excep what is said in regard to Mr. Barnes an( Dr. Beman," e. e. refusing to give their equal rights in the Church Zvi at Princeton, &c. In another place, the ed gaged in defending his ortho pecions of "New-School" taii, by the North-western, says: " As to our theology, it is that of Faith, in its plain and obvious think that there is room for mud what that sense is, we may say th sense is our sense. . . . that we believe that the great b School are as sincere and thoroug ceiving the standards." In one paragraph it rebuk bing old sores," and in anothe i "own opinion of • the proprl means to ascertain the mind o Instead of appreciating on we might expect an intelligen ed man would, to discover really union, or the very diffo uniformity—=Which is sought School" brethren, we find the humoredly classing us with t . 1 ern Presbyterian, as endeavori l throw the work" Of Re-union old prejudices and strifes." W a right to expect something o level of frankness and Christi ty than this self-contradictory result of three weeks' delay on the part of the Presby ter.. There may be some latent liberal inten tion involved somehow in these paragraphs, just as there are sunbeams in cucumbers, but we confess that they elude our powers of analysis and development in any practical form. `TheSe, then, are the ultimate lengths of conciliation to which our brethien of the other branch, through theiraccepted organs of opinion, will go for Re-union. All but one require that Mr. Barnes and Dr. Beman should be marked as heretical, and the other, which has been the very head and front of the Re-union movement in the. Old School body, has only such vague words on the sub ject as we haVe quoted above. The editor of the Presbyt& . accepts the Confession in the Old School sense, and bases his hopes of re-union on the supposition that the great body of the NeW School are as sincere and thorough as he in accepting the standards. Not an Old School paper has dared to breathe the word " liberal" in reference to the basis of union ; not one has ventured to hint at a toleration of differences of opinion in the re-united Church. Not a correspond ent, lay or clerical, has offered or has been admitted into the colUmns of an Old School paper, to argue for anything less than a rigo rous construction of the standards as a basis of Re-union. Our readers can draw their own infer ences. NATURAL SCIENCE, AND RELIGION IN Natural, science as pursued and taught in Philadelphia has never in any public or ex tensive way been perverted to the service of infidelity. The proceedings of her so cieties and institutes and the various courses of scientific lectures delivered under different atspices, 'a avaboso such _as, for the most .part to harmonize with our reputation as a Christian community. But perhaps the most striking illustration of this fact has been given in the popular course of scientific lectures which has been delivered before the Young Men's Christian Association during the, season just closed. For this service a dozen or more of our most able and in teresting lecturers, some religious men . and some not, gladly volunteered their services, esteeming it a privilege to bring their stores of information and their various and often splendid apparatus for illustration to aid our Christian young men in their labors for the protection, improvement, and rational entertainment of the multitudes of their class exposed to temptation in a great city. On Friday evening of last week, the Lec ture Committee having closed their labors ' for the Season, gave an entertainment to the lecturers and other workers in this de partment, in the halls of the Association at 1210 Chestnut street. The early part of the evening was spent in social intercourse of the most delightful character, and at 9 o'clock the company, about 40 in number, sat down to a sumptuous repast. The chair was oc cupied by Geo. W. Mears, Esq.,—Chairman of the Lecture Committee, who after the appetites of the company had been satisfied, called for brief speeches, from one and another of the company, ,adding not a little to the life and good cheer of the company by the peculiar appropriateness and indi viduality of the summons addressed to each. Peter B. Simons, Esq., commenced by thank ing the lecturers for their valuable and gratuitous services, and was followed by Professors Hartshorne of . the High School, Hayden, McQuillen, Chase, Theo. D. Rand, Esq., Rev Dr. Beadle who lectured on Mol lusks, Rev. A. M. Stewart, who lectured on Entomology, Major Calhoun, formerly of Kentucky, who had lost a foot, been shot through the lungs and in other parts of the body in the service of his country and who had lectured with thrilling interest on the caves of the limestone formation, with otbers, in lively speeches admirable for brevity and pointedness. The lecturers expressed them selves as the parties really under obligations for the opportunity afforded them to take part in so good a work, and declared them selves in readiness for another campaign in the coming winter. Ex. Gov. Pollock was also present and made an admirable off-hand speech, Dr. March responded to a call for the clergy, and Rev. John W. Mears re sponded in behalf of the press. At a reasonable hour the guests separated being dismissed with the benediction by Dr. eeuliar views lh those taught tor, being en oxy from sus t thrown out the Confession :ense, and if any difficulty as to the Old School We may add 'y of the New as we are in re- s us for "pro refers to its ety of using I the Church." attempts, as liberal mind •vhether it is Vent matter— lby our " Old Presbyter ill- North West g to " over by appeals to think we had a far higher agnanimi- PHILADELPHIA. Genesee Evangelist, No. 1091. March, feeling that they had not only passed a season of uncommon enjoyment but had encouraged one another in a work of the highest importance and utility. "THE MOST CERTAIN FACT OF HISTORY." It is in these triumphant terms that the Commentator Lange speaks of the resurrec tion-of Jesus Christ. Judged according to the ordinary canons of evidence, there is no event of the past so well established as this. The strongest possible testimony from wit nesses whose credibility cannot be impeached has been in posession of mankind from the date of the event to the present time. It occurred among the bitterest enemies, the murderers of Christ, men shrewd and power ful no less than eager to fasten falsehood upon the story if they could. Even the amazed disciples of Jesus discredited it, at - first, as stoutly as His enemies. "Their words seemed to them as idle tales - and they believed them not." Honest, blunt, incredu lous Thomas, the very sort of an ally Which a skeptic would have desired to have among the disciples at such a time, would listen to no hearsay testimony on the subject what ever. The thing was impossible in his view. Nothing but the most overwhelming sensi ble proofs would satisfy him of suca a fact. Even this obstinate doubter was more than silenced; with joyful adoring wonder he was fain to cry out, "My Lord and my God." Thus the risen Lord was obliged to convince His very friends, as well as 'enemies, of the reality of His resurection. Their testimony has all the value of that of men convinced against the current of their opinions and beliefs. And only such an event as the Resurrection can at all account for the subsequent history and the invincible life and power of Christi anity. Had Christ dill and disappeared, like any ordinify man, we may be sure the Chrigtian religion would Have been a poor pietism, would have died out from the active forces of the world. It is titterly impossible that the Acts of the Apostles would have been done or written. Those great Chris tian heroes would have remained a. poor, stricken, trembling band, never to be rallied from the dispersion caused by the cruel and ignominious death of their Master. The mighty movement which stirred the whole world, which overthrew the splendid idola tries of Greece and Rome, which in three cen turies converted the civilized world through the zeal obionartyr witnesses, would have been as great a miracle as the resurrection itself, bad not Christ Himself risen. That Resurrection is the only adequate explanation of such a wonderful series of events in the world's history. And the Resurrection of Christ is that one great event which, however surprising, would alone give congruity - to the life and works of such a being. He who had so marvellous a beginning; who taught duty and morality and truth in such a matchless style of au thority, simplicity and purity; who wrought, lowr His single word such mighty works, cleansing the leper, giving sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf; and speech to the dumb ; who cast out devils and raised the dead ; who suffered Himself to be announced as the world's promised Redeemer and divine sacrifice, that He should die and pass away; that His body should see corruption; that He should share the common lot and never be heard of more, would be so out of all keep ing as to mar irremediably the whole narra tive. Beginning and middle would be dis credited by such an end. Slow as His fol lowers were to believe it, only a resurrec tion on the third day becomes the exalted Jesus, the Great Teacher, the mighty healer, the Redeemer of mankind. THE resignation of Dr. Adams, is at last a fait aedompli. The congregation of North Broad St. Church, at their meeting of April 15th, refused to accept it, offered Dr. Adams six months, vacation, and promised to supply the pulpit, but Presbytery yielding to the serious representations made by Dr. Adams of the state of his health, as given by medical authority, agreed unanimously to consent to the dissolution of the relation. All parties are agreed that this is one of the sorest acts that Church or Presbytery have been called to perform for many years. Dr. Adams it is hoped will be in time to attend the Scottish Assemblies as a delegate from our own body to which service he has been invited by the Stated Clerk, Dr. Hatfield.
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