Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1900-11-03
PRESBYTERIAN REVISION.

|I. .|f"HNfH.A 20 ~ tnaAAA Va AAlE 4 W.
bytauln creed has now been so FAR
advanced that It's consideration by the
general assembly next year Is regarded
as certain, About half Of the 232 pres
Dytarlas have voted upon the matter,
and more than two-thlrds are In favor
Of revision. Among the most important
OF these are those Of Brooklyn. Buffalo.
Cleveland Council Bluffs. Detroit. Jer-
sey city Louisville. st. Paul. Omaha.
Syracuse. Washington. san Francisco
and Sacramento. In other presbyteries
the proposition TO change the creed
was lost by q very close vote. In Los
Angeles, for instance. twenty-six voted
against and twenty-three for the pro-
posed change.
Tho clauses Of the Westminster con-
fessiou which particularly command
attention IN this discussion are those
relating TO the state Of infants after
death. The creed holds that by the de-
cree OF the Almighty for the manifesto
tatlon Of His glory, some men and
angels are predestined unto everlasting
life. ana others foreordained 70 ever
lasting death. These angels and men
thus predestlned and foreordained are
particularly and unchangeably de-
signed and their number is so certain
and definite that e can not either be
increased or diminished
On these fundamental principles, the
fate Of infants is thus explained:
Elect infants dying In infancy, are
regenerated and saved through the
Spirit who w0rketh when. where and
how He pleaseth so also are an other
elect persons who are incapable OF be-
Ing called by the ministry Of the word.
"Others not elected although they
may be called by the word ana may
have some common operations Of the
Spirit. yet they never truly come 20
Christ and therefore cannot be saved.
Much less can men not protesting the
Christian religion be saved I'm any way
whatever be they never so diligent %
frame their lives according 20 the Hight
Of nature, and the law Of that religion
they do profess; and 10 assert and
maintain that they may Is very per-
nicious and 20 be detested.'
The doctrine OF infant damnatlon
here supposed to be taught by implica-
ton, has always been a vulnerable spot
in Presbyterian theology and lately
demands for a revision have been made.
But the general assembly OF the Pres
byterlal church South claimed that
no such doctrine was taught, and on
that ground refused 70 revise. Some
theologians Of the Northern church took
the same stand.
These profound thinkers eo'' that the
creed does not teach the damnation Of
q certain number Of infants II teaches
positively the salvation Of the elect in
fants. but makes no attempt at dehn-
ing the purpose Of the Creator in regard
10 those who are not Of the elect. They
make the point that prior to the West
minister creed II was quite universally
taught that all infants dying without
baptism were lost, and that the Presby-
terrain confession Of faith was intended
10 destroy this error and establish the
doctrine Of the salvation Of at least
some infants-the elect among them
whether they had been baptized or not
That this reasoning Is merely an awk-
ward attempt to evade a difficulty needs
no demonstration. The authors Of the
creed were not confronted with the
proposition that all who die in infancy
are lost. only that some OF them-those
not sprlnkled-must expect that fate.
II they really had regarded this belief
as an error, they would have stated as
q counter proposition that all infants
after death are taken care OF
by the all-merciful Father. But
this they ala not DO, They did say
that the elect would be saved. They
scorned the idea that baptism formed
the dividing line between the saved and
the lost. but they substituted election
for baptism, making a division OF their
own. Had they meant TO state that all
infants are objects Of divine grace, they
would have said so, but they could not
DO that, with their ideas OF predestina-
ton and Generalization, and the doc
trne that Original sin" Is worthy OF
eternal death The plain meaning Of
the Confession Is stated by Dir. Twiss;
MANY infants depart from this life
loo original sin and consequently are
condemned 90 eternal death on account
of original sin alone,
To one who holds that man Is to be
oyerlastingly and irredeemably pun
tshed for Adams transgression, there
is no inconsistency in teaching the eter-
nal damuati1n Of innocent infants.
The majority Of the Presbyterians In
this country seem TO realize that their
creed contains an error that in the light
of modern religious sentiment should
Dee removed. They demand a revision
That IS commendable
But II they admit that a standard OF
faith they have been following for more
than 200 years. and boosted Of as sig
nal Of pure truth. is partly false what
guarantee is there that the new creed
when more light comes, will not also
prove solseg Is not the demand for
revision Of the confession OF faith
confession that It's doctrines are man
made. and therefore can be remolded
according 20 the demands OF the times 2
We would think the question that now
c1nfronts the Presbyterian church
should be a testimony TO them, ana to
au other denominations that churches
and ereeds cannot stand unless they are