The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-09-21

sent standards were adopted. Hence
no element of Erastianism, or semblance
of it, is to be found in any part of our
American Confession.
Dean Stanley points out three state
mepts of the Confession which he calls
questionable and peculiar" namely
1, the doctrine of two governments es-
tablished by our Saviour in the church
2, the prohibition of marrying deceased
wlte's sister and 8, the condemnation of
the Pope as being the man of sin. But
even on these points he thinks the An
glican and other churches have no ground
to find fault. He says these are the only
statements to which an English church
man could demur, as going beyond the
boundaries of his own thirty-nine ar
ticles. On all other matters there is no
ground for EXPLANATIONS of rejoicing,
" God, thank Thee that am not as this
Presbyterian. We have much more call
to say God be merciful to us sinners,
whether in the Presbyterian, Anglican,
Lutheran, Roman, or Greek churches. I"
On the subject of the Sabbath he COM
mends the language of the Confession as
moderate, gentle, and wise;" and even
those expressions which have been so
often and so severely censured, about
"elect infants" the doctrine of "atone-
ment, the inspiration of the Scriptures,
the " eternal DEGREES of God, and eternal
condemnation of the wicked, he more
than half apologies for, by showing that
they have been much misunderstood on
the one hand, while on the other, they
are in fact milder and better statements
OF the doctrines in question than similar
deliverances in all other creeds. On
most of these points the Confession gives
Its statement in the very words of Scrip
ture, referring in foot notes to the pas
sages themselves, and leaving the doc
trine ito be explained in the sense of
the original passages" AS to these
points, he says the phrases used in the
Confession are not precisely what we
should have chosen; but they are free
from the objections which exist to the
antl-blbllcal statements of some of the
English Articles. 1t is also to be OBJ
served, says he, that there is almost moth
ing IN the Westminster Confession, cores
pondlng to the damnatory clauses of the
Athanasian Creed.
On the whole we feel quite willing to
stand the limited adverse criticism of
the large-minded Dean, for the sake of
the hearty and liberal testimony he has
borne to the many substantial excel
lencles of this venerable Confession. He
appreciates at the full the high spiritual
character of the work as a whole, its
genial and tolerant spirit as it regards
other churches, its reverence of the Word
OF God, its admirable descriptions of the
moral character of God and of Christ
and its assertion in advance of any other
church creed, of the important doctrine
OF second causes in connection with the
Divine Sovereignty and the free agency
OF man. Neither is God the author of
sin, nor is violence offered to the will of
the creature, nor is the liberty or con-
tlngency of second causes taken awav,
but rather established" On this last
important doctrine of the Confession he
remarks, 1t is certain that the &C
acknowledgement of the existence of second
causes is the turning point of the differ
ence between an earlier and later state
ment of divine truth" If to this, we add
the noble deliverance of the Confession
on the supremacy and freedom of every
mans conscience, it is easy to see what
service this Confession has done in the
cause of civil and religious liberty, as.
well as of philosophy.-Interioy.