The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1890-06-30
THE AWFUL DOCTRINE OF DOOM
Tho Probable Action OF the Presbyterian
Committee of Twenty-Five.

From the HOnn.feld CUttsn.
The terms in which the doctrine OF election
and reprobutiun are sot forth in the Mestmin-
ster on.ession aud cnechsms are ieariully
clear aud distinct. By the decree OF God for
angels are prcdostinqted unto everlasting lie,
and others are ordained unto everlasting
and Internationally designs ,d' Ther nnmb"r is
so certain and definite that II cannot be either
increased or diminished. Those rredestinated
unto life were chosen in Christ unto overlast-
ing glory out of Cots moro grace and love,
without any foresight of faith or good works or
any othe: thing n the creature as conditions
or causes moving him thcreunto, None others
are redeemed ~ Christ but the elact on y ,.
They are guilty d Adams first, sin. They are
ming through life aud can do nothing else, un;
less regenerncd by the sovereign power and
nalIy decreed they never will eXperence:
They are doomed and subject TO all the
mlscries Of this life and to the tormenting
way OF ESCAPE, no door of deiverance, no CLEAN
Of hope no chance u redemption. BECAUSE for
them no redeeming Christ has diod. Yet these
wroiched ones are ineNcusable in their guilt.
and deserve their dreadful end. which is TO
Elorify the immutable justice OF the sovereign
Whatever may be thought Of this tremendous
doctrine, 1t Ia not rcileI or nut in ieeble oyasive
clear precise, sonorons, and MAJESTIC English
is grandly suited to the theme The men who
world behaved what they. said. Their meaning
is plain. The diction OF tho Confession and
catechism neeis no revision. the stately
The widespread discomfort with tho doctrin-
pressIon in every feasible way: in public. and
In private discussions: In the secular and the
aosn s probabg tTae hat
jority would have liked the Confession revised
accordingly. Yet nothing OF the kind was DONE
Nm I'M. nfrDr tNp mi m
not to 10 It,. and this is tho surprising result
tor which It is TAR from easy to acronnt
The matter of revision was referred by the
Assembly to a committee of twenty-five. Nine
Nom bers of the committee are opposed TO any
revision at ALL They were appointed as anti
most resoiute. most active members that sat
In the Assembly. the men. In fact, who were
Its dominating members-theoogians OF the
technical Calvinistc tyne who coniended TO
the Inst that any movement toward revision
was unneccssa ry and bad.
The presence of those men on the committee
overwhelming in strength though inferior IN
numbers 10 their associates. would have been
sufficient guarantee against report favorable
to any important or substantial change in the
existing standards But to make it absolutely
certain that none should be made. the Assem-
bly,. on the demand OF the anti-revisionists.
unanimously resolved:
That this Committee on Revision be and hereby are
or NJ @ that WI IN %Hy way impair y ne o in
trne taught in the Confession of Faith
!, 1t is important to observe the insertion in
the resolution of the defining and in theo-
logical sense, the strictly technc al word Cal,
whistle, an insel tlon not desired By the liberal
revisionists. who. wished only the general
words system OF doctrine" But these Gus
tomary words. always heretofore deemed sui-
lcient and by many sensitive minds, much
too rigid and exact, were not regarded as pre-
else and inilextble enough by the anti.revis:
ionsts,. and the insertion Of the additional
on by the theooGians OF the, Princeton school,
Drs. Patton and Warlield. who are also mem-
bers Of the Revision Committee.
:, In this condition OF things i, will be asked:
What scope is left for revision What Is there
for the committee to do?, We have been at
some pains to find out and. 80 far as the limi-
tations OF our theological science have enabled
us to see. we think the work Of the committee
will consist mostly. if not altogether, In verbal
corrections. to remove the doubt, now thought
TO be permissible whether the Confession, in
its statement Of election and Reproduction. Is to
DO interpreted in O. supralapsarian or an mira
lapsarian sense. Does 1t mean that In the
mind of God. or In the order OF His purposes.
His choice Of the elect and His passing by Of
the non-elect went before or came after the
thought OF the guilt of the fall
Its settlement either way will not endanger
the stability or impair the integrity OF the Cal
whistle system, inasmuch as what Gavin
thought OF it does not appear to be known.