The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-05-23
The Report of the Committee on
Revision
OF THE CONFESSION OF FAITH
Free Will and Charlottesville Pope's
Claims Without Warrant.

mat mad voted on the proposed change in
the method of amendment of the standard.
voted aye, no, 6 refused to
report, and, were not reported. Several
statements We're made as to the overture on
The report of the committee on revision
OF the confession of faith was read by the
chairman, Rev. William G. Roberts, presi-
DENT OF Lake Forest university. He said
in his introduction that the copy from
which he was reading was only corrections
and that he regretted some of the daily
papers had by some means got hold of and
puDllshed one of the particularly iccorrect
copies.
After the reading of the report, it was
moved that 1t be sent down to the Presby-
terles as recommended by the committee,
and the committee continued, to make a
hnal report to the next assembly.
DR.. Smith warmly seconded the motion.
Rev. DIR. Patton. of the revision COM
mlttee, supported the motion. He would
have preferred on strictly technical grounds
that the report be recommitted, and they
be directed to send it down to the Presby
terles rather than for the assembly itself to
send 1t down, because some might under
stand that action as implying some degree
OF endorsement of the recommendations re-
ported. he said: 81 think in the changes
proposed in the report the essence of Cal
vinism is wholly preserved We did not
mean to de-Calvinize, and we did not.
Everyone who expected anything of that
sort Will be disappointed. We were not
unanimous, although so harmonious. We
want to see how the church views the pro-
posed changes and the proposed methods of
making the changes before deciding to
stand out for anything that does not appear
IN court. We want the report criticised
without any restraint from misapprehen-
sion OF unanmity in the session of the COM
mittee'
The motion was unanimously adopted
and the great debate was over for this year
so far as the general assembly is concerned.
Reports from the committee on unem-
ployed ministers were made the second
order of the day tomorrow. That of the
committee on zeal was made the second
order of the day for this afternoon.
DIR. Francis, of Cincinnati, recommended
a method and time of dealing with the cues
ton OF accepting or vetoing the election of
professors in theological seminaries at the
session Of the assembly. Referred to the
committee on theological seminaries to re-
port at their earliest convenience
The report of the committee on the text
OF the constitution of the church was read,
specifying certain changes it made in the
punctuation, etc.
Judge Hand, of Scranton, Pa, made the
report OF the committee on business man
agement of the board of publication. The
committee finds that the recommendation
of the special committee of last year true
and wise, and state the most important of
these recommendations have, during the
year, been adopted by the business commit.
tee of the board
The management Of the board during the
last fifty years has been remarkable sue
cess. Its real estate investments were very
profitable. The committee recommend q
division of the SUPPLEMENTARY into a
binding, publication and distribution,
instead of imposing them all upon the board
superintendent. Also the management of
this work to be located in the board, which
may have upon it men of technical knowl-
edge, rather than in an outside committee.
The committee recommended specific
methods OF carrying out the above views.
The reports were accepted and made the
second order for Tuesday afternoon After
announcements by the business committee,
Among the changes recommended by the
committee on revision: In chapter /,
Scriptures" section 5, are inserted the
words, land the truthfulness of history,
the faithful witness of prophecy and mira
cles, as among the arguments for the in
spiration of Scripture.
Chapter 3, ''of Gods eternal Decree" has
sections 3 and stricken out o
Section 3, which is a portion OF the pres
ent confession relating to REORGANIZATION,
becomes section 3, and is amended to read as
follows: God, before the foundation of
the world was laid according to His eternal
and immutable purpose, and the secret coun-
sci and good pleasure of His will, has predes-
tined some of mankind unto life and hath
and unchangeably chosen them
in Christ unto everlasting glory, out OF His
free grace and love without any foresight
of faith, or good works, or perseverance,
in either of them, or any other thing in the
as conditions or causes moving
Him thereunto; and all of his glorious
graces.''
Section remains unchanged and be-
comes section 4.
Section was amended and becomes sec
ton and is as follows:
Section 5-The rest of mankind God
was pleased, according to the unsearchable
course of His own will whereby He ex-
tends or withholdeth mercy as He pleaseth,
not to elect unto everlasting life, but to or
dain them to dishonor and wrath for their
sins, to the praise of His glorious Justice:
yet SO as hereby neither is any limitation
put upon the offer of salvation to all, upon
condition of faith in Christ; nor is restraint
laid upon the offer of salvation to all, upon
condition of faith in Christ; nor is restraint
laid upon the freedom of any one to hinder
his acceptance of this offer"
The chapter on free will, now chapter 10,
is amended by the addition of these words
to the declaration of the insufficiency of
the will of man for spiritual goodness:
yet is his responsibility as free moral
agent not thereby impaired"
In the announcement nri0n la,uf,l notb,
''popish monastic vowsn are described
simply as monastic vows. There is a
similar change with regard to the term
"Papist," made in the chapter on marriage
and divorce, and the Pope of some ceases
in the revision to be described as anti
Christ. The sacrifice of the mass is also
referred to as the "Roman Catholic doc
trine' rather than ''popish,' but it cont1n-
ues to be designated as abominably injuri-
GUS.
One clause of chapter II is changed to
read as follows: "All infants dying in in
fancy, and all other persons who from
birth to death, are incapable of being out
wardly called by the ministry of the word.
are redeemed by Christ and regenerated by
the spirit who worketh when and where.
and how He pleaseth.n This is a radical
differing from the old confess
sion by the insertion of the words 'sall.n
iroH pirIn " ueaeu, are redeemed
"and are regenerated by the spirit"
An entirely new clause is the following:
Chapter rs, section 6. There is no other
road of the church but our Lord Jesus Christ
and the claim of the Pope of Rome to be the
vicar Of Christ and head of the church
is without warrant in Scrip
lures, or in fact, and is an usurpation dis
honoring to the Lord Jesus Christi
Southern Presbyterian Assembly.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala, May 22.-In the gen.