The age-herald., 1900-04-21
TO USE AGE-HERALD EDITORIAL AS TEXT Subject of Rev. 0. P. SpiegeIs
 Sermon Tomorrow. QUESTION OF A NEW CREED Will Discuss the Position of Dr. Hillis Who Has Asked Permission to
 Demit Ministry of the Pres
 byterian Church
QUESTION OF A NEW CREED

The Rev. o. P. Spegel of the Christian
 church, in Fifth avenue at Twenty-first
 street, will tomorrow morning discuss the
 question: "Is a new creed necessary" and
 his text on that occasion will be an edito-
 rial of The Age-Herald that appeared in
 the issue of April 16. The article in ques-
 tion discussed the position recently taken
 by Dr. Hills, especially upon the doctrine
 of election or predestination as it Is gen.
 erally called. The question of eternal
 punishment for any one whatsoever is also
 involved but as the editorial in question
 did not raise that question, it is presumed
 the eloquent pastor of the Christian
 church will confine his criticisms to the
 doctrine of election. The editorial of April Is is reproduced, in order that all who are interested in the subject may see what
 MT Spiegels text will be-
 Dr. HiIlis, who left Chicago to become the pastor of the Plymouth church, has asked permission to demit the ministry of the Presbyterian church. His letter ad-
 dressed to the presbytery of Chicago is
 long, yet no action has yet been taken on it. It will come up this week. but whether or no Dr. Hills is permitted to
 demit, thus allowing him to become
 preacher of the Congregational church
 without doctrinal examination or question:
 ing, he has at any rate put himself out
 side of the confession of faith-the chleI
 standard-of the Presbyterian church. lie
 has followed Dr. McGiffert and long. fine of men who have ceased to be Calvinists. He thus states his position:
 For years, in common with many other preachers, I have been apologizing for our creed, and saying that while our confess sion of faith says that some men ana angels are foreordained to everlasting death," nobody believed it. Nevertheless, during these years I have been disturbed by the thought that nothing lowers the moral sense of the community like the keeping on statute books laws that are daily disobeyed and laughed at; and what shall be said of the injury to our children and youth of preserving intact creed that is accepted by our clerical instructors one day and denied by our ministers the next? During the past years I labored in sea- son and out of season with voice and pen to secure revision of the confession that we might be clear before the world But 1t now seems that some teachers in our theological seminaries hold to the doctrine
 
 an integral part of our system, and urge that if cannot accept it I must withdraw
 from the church.
 The movement that Dr. Hills has precip- itated seems likely to result in the setting aside of the confession of faith and the adoption of short evangelical creed in- stead. The Interior, the chief Presbyte- rian organ of the northwest, openly advo- cates such a change, adding the statement | that three-fifths of the ministers and nine tenths of the parishioners now reject the doctrine of predestinauon. The Interior believes that a new creed will be adopted at an early day, and the great church | thus saved from disruption and disorgan- | ization.
 | deeper or is more significant. The dog | matism of two hundred years ago is pass l ing away, and simpler creeds and teach | ings-creeds and teachings that all Chrit- | ians can subscribe to-are taking their | places. Dr. Hills pleads in earnest sen- | tences for the cross of Jesus Christ, and | the simpler Jesus Christ and His teachings are presented, the nearer will all Christ | fans be drawn together. This movement | in Chicago is in fact but one of many movements in various parts of the world that makes for the unification of Christi 1 anity. The new century will work out | or at least advance, the great problem.