The Savannah morning news., 1901-05-26
Current Church News

The third article in the report Of the
creedal committee of the Presbyterian
church, thinks the Universalist Leader, is
one of the most significant utterances re-
Gently heard in the religious world. The
committee reports unanimously upon the
facts" it finds among the presbyteries,
and the third article reads as follows:
These returns indicate that it is the
mind of the church that the Confession
shall be interpreted throughout in har-
mony with the teaching of Scripture that
God is not willing that any one should
perish. nor is 1t the decree of God, but
the wickedness of their own hearts, which
shuts some men from the salvation freely
and lovingly offered in Christ Jesus to all
sinners
If it is a fact that the above paragraph
is transcript of the mind of the church,
declares the Leader, how completely il
has abandoned the old position will be in
dicated by quoting the exact words of the
old catechsm:
God, by an eternal and immutable de-
cree, out of his mere love- for the praise
OF his glorious grace, to be manifested IN
due time. hath elected some angels TO
glory; and in Christ hath chosen some
men 10 eltI0dl NE anu the means lneTOIs
and also, according to his sovereign
power and the unsearchable counsel of
his own will (whereby he eXtendeth or
withholdeth favor as he pleaseth), hath
passed by, and foreordained the rest to
dishonor and wrath. to be for their sin
inflicted. to the praise and glory of his
justice.
The shifting of responsibility from God
TO man. as these returns indicate" is,
aN..I.a ~. 4.
OF the rationalzing of theology and the
promise Of yet greater growth. The old
decree" having been abandoned, there
is the foregleam of the time when men
shall wilingly-and eagerly-know the
truth. and the truth shall make them
free from sin.
Are there many conversions in this
country from the Protestant to the Cath
Ole. or from the Catholic TO the Protest
ant church? inquiries the New York In
dependent This" it goes on to say, ut
not easy to tell. for we can have no such
statistics as are gathered by the govern
ment in Germany. Some haphazard in
quiries show us that hereabouts there Is
hardly a fair-sized Protestant church
which does not have members that came
from the Catholic families-one. two or
half dozen. The Catholic Citizen said
rev weeks ago that IN city ike MIL
waukee or ST. Paul the number OF con-
versions from the Protestant church is
not great, perhaps not 100 per annum
and In Chicago less proportionally. But a
hundred per annum is not a small num-
Der. Yet the Paulist Fathers in this city
have been holding a two'weeks' mission
to non-Catholics in Chicago, at which.
out OF a nightly audience OF 1900. fully
1900 are said to have been non-Catholics.
and al the close OF the mission there was
an inquiry class OF 200. and 1874 persons
confessed themselves converts, Il of them
negroes; and IS men to 76 women Says
one OF the Paulist Fathers:
After Tuesday Of the first week we
were busy from A. m. TIL H. and again
from TN p. m. answering questions OF
Protestants and giving private instruc-
tion. Every night from till 7.45 we took
turns az the convert class. then from 7:45
TIL $40 answering questions, ana from