Arizona republican., 1903-06-08
The New Presbyterlan Creed.

Although but a short time has elapsed since it was proclaimed that the revision of the Presbyterian Con- fcssion of Faith had been completed. it is quite apparent already that the peo- pie in general have received the new creed with marked indifference. This does not indicate any lack of friendly feeling for the Presbyterian church. Or the contrary. the healthy growth of the church and the vast and growing contributions thereto show that 1t was never in more nourishing condition. But it does indicate a change in the religious thought of the country which is positively revolutionary in char acter. Hardly ten years age, the mere suggestion that the Confession of Faith was faulty was sufficient to pro yoke everywhere an outcry against the heretics. There has, indeed, been a marvellous broadening of the religious spirit during the past twenty years. Orthodoxy in the strict sense-the ac- ceptance of creeds and dogmas as in- fahble-has given way to a feeling of tolerance for all sincere beliefs. Most pronounced of all. perhaps. is the pro found conviction which is now firmly established within all the churches. that it matters very little, after all, what a mans belief is. while it does matter very much what the man is himself.
 It is interesting. however. to note the changes which nave been made in the Presbyterian faith. The revision con sists of certain changes in the existing articles, two additional articles and a brief statement or summary of th- whole, in modern language, and col cred by modern methods of thought. The changes, or qualifying eZplana- tions, are five. The first is an expIana-. ton eliminating the appearance of fatalism from the chapter on Gods eternal decree" part of which is as follows: By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestined unto everlasting death. These angels and men, thus predestinated and fcreor- dained, are particularly and unchange- ably designed. and their number is so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished" It is explained that this is to be held in harmony with the doctrine that men are fully responsible for their treat ment of Gods gracious offer: that His decree flinders TO man from accepting that offer and that no man is con- demned except on the ground of his own sin" TLis last is a repudiation of the doctrine in the doggereI O; the New England Primer that 'In Adams fall We sinned all"
 The Confession states that "elect in- fants, dying in infancy. are regener- ated and saved in Christ" This i'm plies that there are non-elect infants wOh go to perdition, and the revision states: We believe that all dying in infancy are included in the election of grace" It $ stated in the Confession that good acts done by unregenerate men" are sinful and cannot please God The revision simply says that such acts come short of what God re- quires, and dc not make any man meet 10 receive the grace of God" This is d modification Of the extremest form of the doctrine of salvation by faith. and indicates a higher estimate of the value of moral character. in harmony with the rising ethical spirit of the age The declaration Of the Confession that it is a sin to refuse to take a judicial oath Is omitted. This cannot fail to interest members of the Society of Friends. The characterization of the Pope as that anti-Christ, that man of sin and son of perdition," is omitted. This shows the abatement of the theo- logical rancor of the seventeenth cen tury. The two additional articles re- late to the Hcly Spirit and to the love oi God. and missions. on which sub- jects there was little or nothing in the Confession.
 Tho brief statement summarizes the voluminors Confession. revised as above. stated in less theological terms and influenced perceptibly by modern tendencies in religious thought In revising its Confession it is stated with great positiveness that the Pres Eyterian church has not changed it's belief, and this is obviously true as general proposition. It is equally true that if the revision were a mare matter OE phraseClogy it would not have been pressed for fifteen years, and have en- countered so much opposition. The changes reflect in some degree the de clining spirit of -Calvanism and the rising ethical spirit which mark the religious thought of the present