New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-05-20
THE REVISED CONFESSION.
IN THE HANDS OF IT'S FRIENDS.
THE INTEGRITY OF THE fCALvINISTIC
SYSTEM NOT IMPAIRED.

|
REPORT OF THE GENERAL AssEMBLY's CON-
MTTEE TO BE SUBMITTED AT DETROIT
THIS WEEK THE OLD STANDARDS
AND THE NEW PLACED TOGETHER
FOR CoMPARIsoN-rwo NEW
CHAPTERS PREPARED.
Detroit May l9.-For two or three years the
Presbyterian Church has been in suspense regard
ing its venerable system Of doctrine After
vigorous contest a simple overture was sent by tne
General Assembly to the Presbyteries in 1889, ask
ing If they desired a revision Of the Westminster
| Confession Of Faith The debate between the
conservatives and the radicals, socalled, eclirsed
all other controversies in the Church year
ago, and the last Assembly appointed a Committee
on Revision of the Confession Of Faith, which was
made up of theological professors, college pTesi-
dents pastors and elders chosen from both parties
The committee has prepared report which Is
given herewith In full. It will be submitted prob
ably this week to the Assembly, which meets
on Thursday In the Fort Street Presbyterian
Church. 1t is possible that the work of the COM
mttees will be sent to the Presbyteries for their
consideration without discussion, but that is
hardly probable. Appended to the report are
the sections from the Confession In which changes
have been made. The new version precedes the
old as it is printed here, and where sections SIM
ilarly numbered oecnr in chapter the new
Confessional statement is printed with leads be-
tween the lines, the old text appearing In closer
type The words in the new statement which
! are in quotation marks are additions to the re-
eeived text.
i After the Presbyteries have paded judgment
upon the report it will be revised by the committee
and sent to the next Assembly for adoption. Two
chapters have been inserted in the Book, and many
Of the changes suggested by the Presbyteries last
| wear are embodied in this new matter. An I'M
portant feature of the report was the conclusion
| of the committee at the outset that mo altera-
tions or amendments should) be proposed that
would in any way impair the integrity OF the he
formed or Calvinistic system of doctrine taught
in the Confession"
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE.
The Assembly's Committee on Revision Of the
Confession of Faith begs leave to submit the
following report:
In pursuance of the Assemblys instructions
(see minutes OF 1890, p. S5) the first meeting
| of the committee was held at the call OF the
temporary chairman, in the library OF the vest
ern Theological Seminary, Allegheny CITY, Penn
October Ia 1890. The first halrhour was de-
voted TO prayer and consideration ol the gravity
of the situation, the Importance OF the work TO
he undertaken and the best interests OF our beloved
When the roll of the committee was called
twenty three members answered to their names,
and letters were received from ne remaining 6
two expressing regret at their lnaDllty 10 oe
present on account of illhealth.
After completing tie organization of the com
mittee By eiecting by ballot the heV. Wil.i'n
c. Roberts, ID. D., as the .Nermanent chairman,
and the Rev. William f. Moore, d. D., as the
secretary the rendered designations of the Rev:
Thomas s Hastings D. D. 9f Newsork, sre a9a ao oI
cepted and the Rev Robert Z. Booth, ID. d, OF
New-York and Morris Il Stratton, esq, OF New
Jersey were elected to ell their places; Upon
learning of their election, the new members re-
paired at once to Allegheny City, thus making
full attendance of the committee.
| The following rules were adopted for the regu,
lation of the committee, namely That the General
| Rules for Judicatories be made the rules OF tne
Committee: that the first halfhour OF each Day
be spent in devotional exercises; that each session
| be opened and closed with prayer, and thai NO
alterations or amendments be proposed thai woula
in any way impair the integrity OF the heiorHSa
| or Calvinistc system of doctrine taught In tne
Confession These regulations were stricIH en- en-
forced during the sessions of the committee ooth
at Allegheny City and in Washingt0Wn G W.sb;nr,on
| At the second meeting, held IN washington,
February to 16. 1891, all of the members OF the
committee were present
THoRoUGHNEss OF THE WORK.
In order " allay any fears that might ne enter
taued in regard to the thoroughness of the WORK OF
revision the whole Confession was read oe1ore
the committee and an opportunity afforded TO n9.e M
every word, sentence ana paragraph suggested ~
the Presby yteries, or desired TO De coISlueIcu ny
| any member of the committee. -
This was followed by taking up in order for
discussion, omission or alteration every one Oh
these noted passages The omissions ana aitels- i.
| tions then decided upon were considered Only
tentative, in order to afford time for iurtneI re
Election and consideration The venerable C9h1eo C2.
| sion was thus subjected twice to the cloacSu
scrutiny All the changes and amendments re recon- a
mended in this report have Deen lOIgcu ~ III VnT
heaviest hammers that your committee coulu wletu.
| Those favorable to revision and those opposeu W
! ir themselves
| labored as brethren anxious 10 perform saeoi"oI
torily the duty committed to them by tne Geeaes es
| Assembly The harmony and br0therly KlndHeSe
which characterized all its deliberations were not
due to a determination to agree, whateveI lIlocI
ests might suffer- but to the evident pIesence 80 %
the Holy Spirit guiding the passions ana the Zee
| ings. as well as the mind and heart. At every
session was displayed the gttering OF the polished
steel OF the nS pasor The clear
out ANALYSTS made by the skilled dialectltlan called
| forth no greater applause than the patheuc aP
Grass Of the word sufficiently low to afford the
| lambs OF the flock opportunity 70 feed thereon,
The keen blade of the layman ala as eMectiVe
work as the broad sword Of the clersymen Nei.het
| time nor labor was spared in the prosecution OF
| the work 1t is just to state, however, thaS
differences of opinion were held py mem9ers Oh
| the committee in regard 10 ie" VI one on"nseo
! herein recommended. Ill. .;.L .h
The committee does not fatter itself with the
hope that all the Presbyteries VIII oe satlsheu
with its work, as submitted to this Assembly.
| some beyond doubt, will feel that the pruning
| Lnife has been too sparngly used, and many will
aliege that not a few precious limbs have been
| Topped off In view of the condltlon OIL things IN
| and out Of the Church, the committee dld not
deem it needful nor wise TO use the reckless pen
knife of Jehoiakim, nor, on the other hand, to
spare passages that are unnecessarily harsh or
| misleading If tae Pyeshyteries will devote sufi-
cicnt time to inquire into the reasons why some
Objectionable paragraphs have been left untouched
| whilst others considered less SO have been enml-
| mated they will find that the committee was gov
erned in its discrimination by restrictions imposed
upon it by the Assembly, or by what it believed
TO be the views held by the majority of our min
throughout the aim of the committee to bridges
over the gulf that appears TO lie between the
| surit of the Confession and that OF our Church
| in these latter days, and TO relieve, as far as
practicable the presentation In our standards OF
! Eod's sovereignty With the rays of His love.
To meet a want felt by individuals and Presby-