New-York tribune., 1877-05-05
A TRIAL FOR HYRFSY.

| A THAI FOR HERFSY.
serious judicial process to deterrnjn.
whether clergyman is heretical in his opin
ions may be considered a. encouraging. 80 far
"a it shows that those engaged in the busines.
are in earnest, and careful in their acceptance
or rejection of doctrine. In Trenton, n. J.,
during the past few days, the w-BnnswIck
Presbytery has been occupied by the trial of
the Rev. Mr.. Miller, who in a recent book
{" C"Questions Awakened by the Bibler) is held
to have taught that the soul is not immortal;
that it dies with the body, and remains until
the resurrection in an extinct condition;
that Christ, like other children OF Adam.
inherited corrupt nature, and was
only redeemed by his own death; ard tha.
there is but one person in the GOdhead. The
trial ended yesterday with unanimous de-
cision by the Presbytcry sustaining each Of
the charges voted on, and a resolution, passed
also unanimously, suspending Mr. Miller from
the ministry until he should renounce his
errors. This Mr.. Miller declared that it was
impossible he should do, and appealed to the
synod He had already made a vigorous de-
fense. OF the charge respecting the re-
generation Of Christ, he explained that
what he said in bis book was that the
SAVIOR was Of guilty parenlage though only
"of woman" and that /" He won Holiness by
"hard trials Of temptation, and herein lay His
" torture" OF the Godhcad, he held that each
person was God, but maintained the separate
existence OF EACH thus denying the Trinity.
His views Of the Immortality of the soul, he
contended, were those Of many eminent di-
vines, including Martin Luther.
OF the controversy, so far as regards the
heteTodoxy or orthodoxy of Mr.. Miller, we
have nothing to say but the fact of the con-
troversy, the trial, and the interest which it
has awakened i'm the New Brunswick Pres
bytery, show that there still remains, in GER
tain quarters at least, a conviction Of the ex-
trcme necessity Of definite doctrine az we'll rs
Of precise excgesis. Moreover, We see that
there are large and important and well cuti-
waited Christian bodies which still cling to
creeds as definite eXpOsitiODs of belief, and
which also hold TO the need Of positive belief
respecting doctrines, which the TatIOnasm Of
the day is disposed to dismiss as of no import
ancc in the Christian scheme. The diyines at
Trenton are as much in earnest in tleir in.
vestigation of the imputed errors of the Rev.
Mr. Miller as Calvin or Luther or Erasmus
was III IDt early hd}b VI TIC ntlblHldliOn.
There must be something important in this
effort to determine matters apart from the
morality of the Gospel, and to fix the pre-
else rela tiOn of the Savior 60 God and
of his coming to man, and TO mans
spiritual accountability. In spite Of
preaching which either directly or in
directly sets up i naturalistic Interpretation Of
the Scriptures and of the Christian scheme.
we see that men still hunger for something
deeper for the supernatural, the miraculous,
and the mysterious. If some have been bold
aud incorporating in their assaults upon
doctrines universally accepted through so many
generations of believers, others have been
equally bold and unccmpromsing in their
defense OF The citadels of what they regard as
divine truth. In italy in France, and IN Ger
many, if the Church has been assailed, it has
also been vigorously champiOned. In England,
the Establishment and the great body Of
learned Dissenters have Wed with each other
in the discussion of fundamental doctrines. In
Scotland, the clang0r of religious controversy
has never ceased since the days of John Knox
In the United States, if large numbers show q
tendency to explain away all the difficult mat
ters of revelation, body equally large stil
clings substantially to the old crccdS, and is
ready to spend and TO be spent in their vindi-
cation.