The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-03-23
NATIVE JAPANESE
Presbytetians Revise the Creed
Of the Church.
VERY MANY STRANGE THINGS
Come Ont of the East, but This Re.
cast of Time-Tried Doctrines by
Former Heathens Beats Them
All...New Clauses Given.

WASHINGTON, D. G., March 22.-Man,
strange things have come out Of tn
east, but probably few events that hav,
occurred during the last decade ar,
likely to impress the thinking minds o
our own civilization more deeply thar
the fact set out in an official report t.
the Department Of State OF the latl
United States Minister to Japan tina
after deliberation the native Presby
terisn church in that country has seer
Ct to recast the ume.tried doctrine o
the Presbyterian church, and even t
make additions to the sacred Apostles
creed.
The Minister Gays that the Presbyter
ian Church like most Of the other Pro
testant Christian Denominations es
tablished by missionaries, has achieved
such progress in Japan and the native
membership has become 80 numerous
and influential as to justify It in con-
trolling the local organization and the
government Of the church, and this II
has proceeded to do. This step carried
with 1t definition Of the faith itself.
A SPIRIT OF REsrLEssNEss.
For some time past a certain spirit Of
energetic restlessness has been observed
to prevail among the native congrega.
tions, evidenced by recalcltrant dispo.
sition in general, and especially in fre.
quent dissent from the foreign teachers
on doctrinai points. By many persons
this was attributed to patriotic resist
ance to foreign influence.
A tendency to conciliate rather than
autagonize this tendency induced the
missionary members OF the Synod TO as.
sent to recent notifications in the canons
OF belief. With this view q committee
composed Of iudicious and conservative
men, believed to have controlling in.
huence, was empowered to report such
changes and notifications in the articles
of faith as would, in their judgment,
afford a maximum beatitude to the pro.
gressive school OF Japanese with Q mini.
mum disturbance Of ancient land marks.
A RECOMMENDATION.
The committee in It's report recon-
mended the substitution Of the XIV
article Of faith OF the English Presbyte-
rian church for those Of bort and Heidi
berg then in force. The change failed to
meet the demands Of the progressive
Japanese, and the report was rejected.
After rejecting these modifcatione, the
Synod, which met last November, pre-
pared and adopted standard OF faith
expressive Of strict Japanese christian
opinion.
An addition was made to the Apostles
Creed by the insertion OF q clause in the
following words as preamble to the
creed itself:
THE NEW CLAUSES.
"The Lord Jesus Chri.t, whom we
worship as God, the only beeotten Son
OF God, for us men and Tor our salvation
was made and suffered. He offered up
a perfect sacrifice for sin, and all who
are one with him by faith are pardoned
and accounted righteous, aud faith in
Him, working by love, puri6es the
%The holy Ghost, who with the
Father and the Son 10 worshipped and
gloritied, reveals Jesus Christ to the
soul, and without Him, men being dead
in sin cannot enter the Kingdom Of
God. By him the Prophets and Apost.
les and holy men Of old were inspired
and he, speaking in the Scriptures Of
the Old and New Testament, is the su-
preme and iniallible judge IN all things
unto faith and living. From
these holy scriptures, the ancient
church Of Christ drew its confession
and we, holding the faith once delivered
to the saints, join in that confession
with praise and thanksgiving"
Minister Swift says that to these
changes in the creed the American and
European members. Of the Synod as
sented and the new creed was formul-
ated and promulgated.