Cheraw gazette. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1835-1838, 1837-07-12


of the Presbyterian church have been noticed
bv most of the secular newspapers and great,
" misunderstood in some plapes. We there.
fore extract below for the information Of oui
readers part of an address by that body to
their brethren of other Christian denomina.
tions, in explanation of their proceedings.
AS the great truths of the gospel lie at
the foundation of all Christian hope, as well
as the purify and prosperity Of the church,
we felt ourselves bound to direct early
and peculiarly solemn attention TO those doc
trinal errors, which, there was but too much
evidence, had gained an alarming prevail
ance in some ofourjudIcatorieS. The advo-
Gates Of these errors, on their tlrst appear.
ancc,wcrc cautious & reserved, alleging that
they differed in words only from the doc.
trint s as stated in our public standards.
Very soon, however, they began to con-
tend that their opinions were really new,
and were a substantial and important I'M.
proyemcnt of the old creed Of the church !;
and a; length, that rcvivals of religion could
not be hoped for, and that the souls Of men
must be destroyed,if the old doctrines con.
,inued 10 be preached. The errors thus
promulgcd were by no means OF that
doubtful or unimporiant character which
seems to be assigned to them by some OF
the professcd friends Of orthodoxy. 1ou
will see by their published acts, that some
of them affect the very foundation Of t,c
system of gospel truth, and that they all
bear relations to the gospel plan of very
serious and ominious import. Surely, doc
trines which 60 to the formal or virtual de-
NAL of our covenant relation 10 Adam;
the nntive and total depravity of man the
entire inability of the sinnc< to recover him.
self from rebellion and corruption the na-
ture and source of regeneration and
Our justification solely on account of the
imputed righteousness Of the Redecmer,
cannot, upon any just principle, be regard.
ed us q" minor errors" They form in fact
"ano;her gospel" and it is impossible for
those who faithfully adhere to our public
standards. to walk with those who adopt
such opinions, with either comfort or conf.
dence.
1t cannot be denied, indeed, that those
who adopted and preached these opinions,
at the same time declared their readiness
TO subscribe our Confession Of Faith, and
actually protessed their assent to it in the
usual form, without apparent scruple. This,
in fact, was one of the most revolving and
alarming characteristics of their position.
They declared that in dong this, they only
adopted the confession " for substance"
and by no means intended to receive the
whole system which it contained. Upon
this principle, we had good evidence that
a number of Presbyteries, in the ordina-
ton and reception of ministers and other
church officers, avowedly and habtually
acted. And hence it has not been uncom.
mon for the members Of such Presbyterics
publicly and formally to repudate some Of
the important doctrines of the formulary
which they had thus subscribed; and even
in few extraordinary cases, to hold up
the sys'em of truth which il. contains, as
" an abomination - as a system which it
were to be "wished had never had an ex.
is,ence." No wonder that men feeling
and acting thus, should have been found,
in some instances, substituting entirely diff.
fcrent confessions Of faith in place of that
which is contained in our constitution. Who
can doubt that such method of subscrib.
ing to articles Of faith is immoral IN princi.
pie; that it is adapted to defeat the great
purpose of adopting confessions; and that,
if persisted in, it could not fail to open the
door of our church wider and wider to
the Introduction of the most radical and
pestferious hcrcsies, which would speedily
destroy her character as an evangelical
body?
Was it possible for US 10 doubt or hest.
tate as to our duty, when such errors were
evidently gaining ground amongst us, and
when it was in our power judicially to con.
denim them? Errors which, ever since the
days Of the Apostles, have been pronounc-
ed by tine true church to be dangerous cor.
rupt;ons of gospel truth. We are con
sciious tha, in pronouncing the errors IN
question to be unscriptural, radical, and
highly dangerous, we are actuated by no
feelings of narrow party zeal; but BY a tirm
and growing persuasion that such errors
cannot fail, in their ultimate effect, to sub.
vert the foundation of Christian hope, and
DESTROY the souls of men. AS watchmen
on the walls Of Zion, we should be untalth.
full to the trust reposed in US. were we not
to cry aloud, and proclaim solemn warn
ing against opinions so corrupt and delu-
slve.
In the course Of our attempts at reform,
we have thought it our duty to annul the
plan of union between the Presbyterian
and Congregational churches in the new
.,.,l,,,,ents formed in 1901. and evidently