The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-04-29
Another Presbyterian Hereto.

Another Prcsbyterinn Hereto.
There must be something strangely pro-
ductiye of heresy of one sort and another in
the doctrines and theology of the Presby-
terrain Church DR.. Swing, Of Chicago, and
Mr.. McCune, Of Cincinnati, have been vir-
tually driven out Of the denomination be-
cause they chose to think outside OF the
Westminster Catechism and tho Confession
of Faith DR.. Cuyler, Of Brooklyn, and
Mr.. See, of Newark have been disciplined
by their Presbyteries for permitting godly
women to speak in church meetings and
Mr. Clark, of Philadelphia, has been
called to account for administering
baptism by immersion. And now Dr.
John Miller, professor within the classic
walls of Princeton, has thrown down the
gauntlet which his Presbytery has taken up
He by his position and influence, and by
the latitude, if not lassitude, OF his doc
trinal views, is the greatest offender OF any
vet discovered. He has written book IN
which he denies the doctrine OF the Trinity,
tho sinlessness of Christ and the soul's I'M
mortality. These are three vital doctrines
y
Miller thinks and declares openly that there
is SO little difference between himself and
his Presbytery OH the second and third they
would have passed them by had he not come
out SO pointedly as he does against the Irln-
ity This has been the mainstay OF the
divinity Of Christ, and, of course, if
it falls. Christ, as vicarious atonement,
falls also, and then, with an emphasis too
terrible to think about, every man is left to
.worl out his own salvation with fear and
trembling" The Doctor thinks the doctrine
of the Trinity originated with Plato, and
from him was Incorporated into Judaism by
Philo, and thence by the Nicene Fathers
introduced into Christianity. The Doctor
does not 60 far enough for his proofs. II ho
had read carefully the Pentateuch he would
have found there very clearly and distinctly
the existence Of a triune God taught. He
would have found the same in the Psalms and
very suggestive foreshadowings thereof in the
Book of Job. And yet while DR.. Miller
denies the doctrine of the Trinity as Presby-
terians believe it, he claims that he is not a
Unitarian, since he holds that 1.-The one God
our Maker is incarnate in the man Christ
Jesus !" but in the same breath no main
tains that this divine man was sinner like
the rest of us, and that he suffered for His
own sins as we'll as for ours This conflicts
very materially with Isaiah's and Pauls and
Jesus own views of His life and mission to
earth. Jesus declared shortly before His
death that the devil would come and
find nothing in Him-that is, nothing
sinful; and the testimony of friends and
enemies alike is to the same effect, that no
man ever spake or acted rs He did. And
Jesus takes this testimony to prove to the
Jews that if He had not done among them
the works that no other man did they would
not have been guilty of rejecting Him. If
DR.. Miller had read critically the first four
teen verses of Johns Gospel he would have
seen that God and His Word, though insep-
arabic, are divisible. This is true also of
man and his word and Christ was the Word
ofGod made flesh for the better conveyance
Of that Word to men also in the flesh.
If the Doctor had also noted the expression
in Genesis, iii, Is, in contrast with similar
passages elsewhere he would know that this
is the only promise of it's kind given to a
woman all others are to men. And then if
he had compared this with the announce
ment of the angel to Mary in Luke, j., IS, he
might understand that 'the man Christ
Jesus" could be man and yet sinless and
hence could die for sins not His own. The
Doctors idea that the Holy Ghost is
simply the breath of God is contrary
to the teaching of Scripture, which
everywhere speaks of Him as a per-
sonality of the masculine gender. This
could not be affirmed of ''breath" of any
kind But it is also contrary to Christian
experience or consciousness. which knows
that the Holy Ghost is personal entity, and
not mere inspiration of God. The Doctor
is evidently in transitional state of mind,
and as God will not deal harshly with men
for their imperfect views Of Him so let the
Prcsbytcry deal leniently with this brother,
mistaken though he be-
/