The Washington critic., 1886-12-30
THE ANDovER CREED.

the AndoVcr Theological Seminary ne
tween the strict cOnstructionists of the
Andovcr creed upon the one hand,
and what might he called its elastic
oonstructionists on the other. II Is
controversy which will he watched
with much interest, because the An.
dover theology is a widely dissent
mated, cmincntly respectable and deeply
seated theology, and the shaking up Of
such q system naturally concerns all
men who have souls to he saved.
The disalIcction in the Audover fac
ulty extends to several OF its members,
but for the purpose of testing the
merits Of the puilt involve in this
particular case, only one of them, Pro.
fcssor Egbcrt Smytbc, has been pro-
ceeded against. the principal charge
against him being that he believes In
probationary condition after dclth,
something like the Catholic purgatory,
established for the special benefit OF
the healh,n and others who during
their mortal existence knew nothing
of God or the Bible, much less of the
doctrine of eternal damnation as held
by the Audover Seminary.
That the case Is considered of i'm
portance may be inferred from the
eminencc of the counsel engaged, Judge
Hoar and Judge French being of couu-
sci for the prosecution, and Judge
Russell Ex-Governor CASTOR and Pro.
fessor Theodore w. Dwight Of the
Columbia Law School of New York
for the defense. The line of argument
pursued by the latter is in effect that
the Andover creed is not iron.clad but
progrcssivc that it was made as toler.
ant in the first place as the ideas then
prevalent permitted, but that its inter
probation was intended to advance in
liberality with the advance of liberal
lied thought, and that consequently
Mr.. Smythe is neither hcretical nor
heterodox in holding that the ultimate
salvation of the man who dies in his
sins, without knowing that this was a
very dangerous and even disastrous
thing to do, is amply provided for.
The plaintiffs insist that the creed is
the creed and not reflex Of shifting
opinions. 1t represented the views of
its authors to dot and these arc Ger.
tainly not the views of Professor
Smythe. Such as it is it must stand,
and the strict construcionists see n to
have the best of the argument.
Mr.. Smythe is unqucstionably further
ahead in his theology than Andover is.
He may be nearer right than Andover
is. His religion is much more COM
forting and consonaut with modern
ideas of eternal justice; but to these
eXtents he is a hereto, and man who
has arrived at conclusions such as his
should throw the Andover creed to the
winds instead of going to law to prove
himself orthodox by the Andover
standard.
Said Mr.. Dwight, of his counsel:
"The present creed, rigidly interpreted,
is q clog upon instruction. 1t with.
holds instructions in the truth. ]
protest against this binding Of men
to an ironclad creed.
Yet there 1t is the ironclad ere Il
that 1t was in the beginning, d Mr.
Smythe may go around 1t, get on top
of 1t, boost it from behind, look at it
from as many different standpoints as
he may, and he cannot change 1t an
iota. 1t is he who has changed. He
sees things in new light, but the new
light does not illuminate the old creed.
Let him formulate creed of his own
and go on rejoicing that all men may
yet be saved, with or without the help
of the Andover theology.
CoNcERNING the Illinois Senatorship
advices from Chicago state that the
contest will be greatly simplifled by the
probable declination of Governor
Oglesby to enter the race. In that case
Chicago will present as candidates ex.
Governor Hamilton and c. b. Farwell,
while Thomas J. Henderson, Lewis L.
Payson, Joseph G. Cannon and Clark
Z. Carr are elsewhere named. 1t Is
also stated that no temporary appoint.
ment is likely to be made, but that the
Office will remain vacant until the Gen.
eral Assembly elects. Other opinions
are that the alleged abstentlon Of Gov
ernor Oglesby Is a ruse, and thlt wheI
the proper time arrives he will put il
an appearance with enough Stat
patronage at his disposal to command
the situation.
JUDGING by the elaborate length anC
conspicuous double leadedness of sew
eral editorials in the Cincinnati Com
merciol Gazette culogistlc of Genera
Logan, Mr.. Halstead is evidently de
termined to do that justice to the dea,
which he was so reluctant TO do to tn
living. The pith of these editorial
may be summed up as follows:
Logan was brave soldier and pur
statesman. Do not forget what all thi
means The country did not forget what
meant In the case oi Grant aud Garaeld.
ri ould not forget what II means IN the cas-
of Logan. The Nation has had the service
Of tie latter II has never paid for then
e. 81 II Is an honor to know tha
General Logan, with all his opportunities a
public man, died poor. 1t would be
dlshonor to know that the widow OF such
man was not placed far beyond the reach O
want.