The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1877-06-16
A sUGG ESTION TO THE PAN-FRES.
BYrERIAN ASSEMBLY.

III EEhlAN ASS EN- Dill.
The nature and design of the Psn.Pres.
byterian Assembly, soon to convene in
Edinburgh, Scotland,is no doubt pretty
we'll understood by most of your readers
IL is intended, as Its title would indicate, to
be an assembly of the representatives OF
both ministers and elders OF the entire
Presbyterian church throughout the
world. 1t is to be . sort OF Gtumenicsl
Presbyterian Council. While, &C.
cording to the Presbyterisl form of
church government it will not
possess any legislative power, we may
yet reasonably judge in advance that
whatever recommendations it may
adopt, or whatever plans it may advise,
will have great weight-in fact almost
the weight of authoritative legal enact
ments-aith the Sessions, Presbyteries'
Synods and Assemblies OF the various
branches of the entire family. .
Now it has struck me that it would be
highly httiug ind desirable for such q
body and At this particular time, to
broach at least the subject of re-
vision OF the creed of the church.
That creed embraces what is known
as The Westminster Confession of Faith,
md the Larger and Shorter Catechisms,
adopted as such by the Assembly known
q, that of the Westminster Dlvines In
A. d. 1647, and ratified by Parliament
in the following year. That there is q
considerable amount of the teaching Of
these documents that is not accepted,
either in the plain, natural meaning OF
the language, or IN the sense understood
by the trainers, by large portion of both
the ministers and people of the Presby-
terian Church at the present day,
can scarcely be questioned. Al ai
events it cannot be questioned
that very many of the most
learned, godly and influential men, both
of the ministers and lsymen of that COM
munion, not only in our own land but
even in stsid and solid old Scotland, re-
gard much OF the teachings of these doc.
uments as either false ia themselves or
utterly ipsdspted to the actual
wants and modes of thought
of this age Pulpits do not
sound out now with expositions and COM
mendstions of eternal and universal pre-
destination, with definite aud unchsnge
able numbers of elected and reprobsted'
with limited stonement, with imputstion
OF righteousness and of guilt &c, as they
once did; and this not simply for the
reason that ministers (msny of them at
least) do not now believe these doctrines
as they were once believed, but also be-
cause the people would not listen to them.
Such doctrines are not congenisl to the
though. of this age, and that not because
this thought is more deprsved or more
,ptide 81 than that Of the 18th, century,
bu, for the very opposite reason that 1t Is
biober. broader and more sympathetic,
and At the same time more Intelligent.
Confessions OF faith may contain much
error and be very imperfect. They are
framed BY fs.ible men, and are
simply the expressions OF the measure
of mems theological knowledge IN TIER
respective ages. Many of them, too,
were framed in periods when the iscill-
ties for gaining wide and varied knowl-
edge were very limlted-when grsmmars,
lexicons and other helps to Biblical oriti-
c,s m and Interpretation were few and IN
fsr;or, In addition TO this, some OF them
were framed at times of great Poii'ica,
aud theological controversy and personal
amnesty, and SO could not but psrtake
of partisan cast of thought and express
sion. and 90 could not present .
fpIl and rounded out system OF truln.
Hence they can not be regarded
a infslhble, or - sdapted 70 all anes.
An this was true - the case OF the
Westmins.ef Confession Of Faith ana
Cs,ecnisms. And so it has come to pass
ths, human thought-snd that not sim
ply the technically rstionallistic or ssmi-
infdel. but much Of the most sober, cor
seryatiya, and truly Christian thought
has out-grown them. and is demanding
At least a more flexible and synpathss'c
LANGUAGE for its e1pressioa and formu-
lstion. As they have stood ior tvo cen,
turtles and Q halt, these documents
have ceased 10 exert upon the
minds and hearts ofa large number Of
.ha nnost lssrned and purest OF Presby-