Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1900-09-07
%OOH
GREED ReVlsl On.

The movement for revision of the
creed of the Presbyterian church has
reached another stage, through the &C
ton of the creed revision committee In
sending out TO all the presbyteries a
series of questions intended to elect their
views of the whole question. The COM
mittee prefaces the questions with the
statement that they are asked merely as
suggestions and with no intention of
limiting the replies. The questions are
as follows
l. DO you desire revision of our Confes.
sion of Faith: or
}. DO you desire a supplemental, explana-
tory statement: or
3. DO YOU desire to supplement our present
doctrinal standards with II briefer statement
of the doctrines "lnost surely believed among
US" expressing in simple language the faith
OF the church in loyalty to the system of
doctrine contained in the Holy scriptures
and held by the reform Churches; or
(. Do you desire the dismissal of the whole
subject, so that our doctrinal standards shall
remain as they are, without any change what
ever whether revisional, supplemental or
substitutional:
j. If your preference Is for revisioual
action. state in what direction and to what
extent you would have revision undertaken.
Inc revision reported 10 Tue d0-tillNlA ~ lo''-
might here be helpful a, a basil for Judgment.
6. If Your preference is for an explanatory
statement, Indicate what specific points in
the confession the explanation should cover.
The committee asks for the votes in the
presby terie- for or against anything that is
recommended to il.
The revision report of 1892. to which
the committee directs attention. was
made after an agitation somewhat SINH
lar to that now in progress. but consider
ation of the matter was interrupted by
the Briggs heresy trial and the asso-
ciated controversies. The clauses for
which a restatement was then particu-
larly sought were those relating TO pre-
destination and REORGANIZATION and the
salvation of infants. the principal change
urged in the last-named being the strik-
ing out Of the word Select" so as 10
make the declaration affirm the salvation
of "infants dying in infancy" without
the implication that some of them were
"elect" and others not.
Thus far. rather less than one-siXth of
the presbvteries have asked for a mOdifi-
cation of the creed. and there seems to
be a good deal of indifference To the
question among those not heard from.
The creed revision committee includes in
its membership some of the ablest di-
vines and theolOgans in the church. and
it represents all shades of opinion, from
the ultra radical to the ultra conserva-
I tive.-BOstOn journal.
5000
SOME ASPECTS OF THE CIVIL WAR.
/ Many who are participating in the re-
union Of the Grand Army of the Republic
this week have no personal knowledge of
the minor conditions that prevailed dur
7 ing the civil war, and no history that
has ever been written and none that is
/ likely TO be written will give TO its
reader a clear insight into those condi-
tions. Probably the most extraordinary
aspect of that war was the deep senti-
mental devotion to the cause of the union
of those who undertook to defend and
preserve X. Men who were foremost in
all the vOcations of life at the report of a
union victory would evin"e the citation of
/ schOolboys. In darker days, when re-
verses would come, when the published
! list of the dead embraced their own
friends and neighbOrs, the same men
would give way to womanlsh tears. The
nervous tension of all the people was
great and feeling was intense beyond
anything that is conceived of by those
whose memories do not 60 back to the
war.