The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-05-30
PROGRESSIVE pREssYFE,RIANs.


The action of the Presbyterian general
assembly, at Philadelphia, in appointing
a committee to reyise the creed ard re-
port at the next general assembly will
meet with universal appreciation The
| Presbyterian church has not been noted
in the past for Hberality, It's treatment
of Prof. Swing and Dr. Briggs was not
calculated to make the church a prime
favorite with the: advanced thinkers Of
America.
While there were always within the
church men who were abreast of the
times in every field of thought, the con-
sentative element still maintained con-
troll and chung to the ancient dogmas, as
if they were the essentials of modern
Christianity. The overwhelming major
ity in the Philadelphia general assembly
in favor Of a revision of the timex hon red
creed laid down by Calvin, that it may
| conform more exactly to the enlightened
Christian thought of today is most sig
| nilcant
1t is to be hoped that this action marks
the dawn of a new era in Presbyterian
| teachings AS a rule the ministers of the
Presbyterian church are men of ability
and culture. Naturally they would be
the leaders of religious thought but they
have been bound down by a cast-iron
creed which many of them could not
beIiava Tho YaS,,It hoo hoo,, . ,,or+io1
mental paralysis or dismissal from the
church.
1t is well to remember in all religious
controversies that creeds are man-ma1e;
that religions are but the philosophy held
by certain people regarding mans duty
in this life and his estate after death
This philosophy, like all PHILOSOPHERS. Is
crude when the people are crude; re-
ligion develops with the intellectual de-
velopment of the man When race is
young in knowledge, it is superstitious,
| just as a child, for want Of knowledge
Is afraid of the dark When 1t arrives
at the age of understanding, it's original
ideas of the world have undergone
marked evolution. This is most true of
the church. The clothes that Calvin made
for the infant church look strangely out
of place now, when donned by the church
grown to manhood.
The principles of evolution must be
recognized in religious thought as well
as in science and in governmental policy
The theories of statecraft of the days
| of the Reformation no longer find place
in modern governments. To retain the
political policy of the sixteenth century
would be to confess ourselves semi
civilized. BY what term shall we char
acterize the social institution that has
made no progress in religious thought
during all these years?
While the general assembly of the Pes
| byterian church was making for itself
! so commemorate a record for Iiberality, it
| is to be regretted that the general as
sembly of the United Presbyte rian
! church, at Des Moines, To-, took a step
in the opposite direction by passing a
ISSOIullOIf 70 GACIuu0 from Inc cnuIcf1 oil
members of secret societies 1t is difficult
for the ordinary man to believe that a
body of Christian gentlemen could he
| guilty of such an act of intolerance. But
the vote was decisive, 80 for and only
GO against the proposition to exclude
from, in their view, the only sure path
| to salvation, a large majority OF the best
citizens of the United States. The only
1edeeming feature OF the situation is the
fact that if the United Presbyterian
church can see its way to get along With
out the members of the secret societies,
the secret societies will manage some
| how to plug along and take their chances
on the future without the assistance Of
| the church.