The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1906-04-04


1t is not necessary argue whether these
or not full statement of the things which
induced the of the South organize Pres
byterian General Assembly. Those reasons
good enough at the time, and If fathers could
have looked forward six years, they could have
given many better than contained in
the four which were thus formulated.
of these editorials the hippant suggestion
made that the danger of fist fights in church
courts has now been removed, carrying with it the
implied suggestion that the fear of fists fights in
the church induced men like Palmer, Thomwen,
Wilson and Adger to organize maintain sepa-
rate church organization Such statements
not in harmony with the dignity or the transcend
ent Importance of the questions which are involved
in THIS impending controversy.
PEACE.
At the end of forty years peace to the South
Presbyterian Church. Fraternal relations and
Christian cooperation had removed of the
causes of friction in the work of these two bodies
The Southern Church had grown into a great and
mighty power for truth. Its adherents united
in the performance of the task which God had
signed to them, in the territory to which Provi-
dence had limited their labors. Losing of
its property in the division, and especially in Ken
lucky, seeing it's seminary and colleges taken from
it with relentless grasp, the church in Kentucky,
after tremendous sacrifices, has rebuilt the waste
places and provided moderate endowments for the
education of its youth and ministry.
In Kentucky, the Christian Observer and its fol-
lowers seeking to reopen these matters and to
drive the pillow share through the churches and
to arouse acrimony and prejudice, which the life
of another generation will still
1t has been charged by their critics that Pres
byterians never at peace; that their wars are a
constant menace to spiritual quiet. The division in
1861 drove thousands of people out of affiliatcn
with the Presbyterian denomination, and the imag-
mary joys of what is called Unity" now are
brought up again by these people who seem dis
satisfied with peace and urge measure which
will weaken the public trust in the tranquility of
church faith and doctrine
The sin of schism is put forward most promi-
nently of the potent factors in arousing the
demand for Organic Union. "Schism" in the
binary ecclesiastical sense means "The offense of
seeking to produce division in a church without
justifabe cause"
II the sin of schism is charged, it be against
our fathers of 1861, but surely no honest or lust
Southern will say that there was any other
course left open to the Presbyterians of the South
at that period but to organize Independent
church. The fault of the separation
theirs. They not the aggressors, but were
driven to the they followed by the unwise
and unchristian conduct those, who by appeals
to political passion and hatred gained control of
the Northern Presbyterian Church and drove it
into a persistent violation of the doctrine of abso-
lutte freedom of the Presbyterian Church from po-
litical interference.
In this matter the Southern Presbyterians were
the Lamb" and the Northern Presbyterians the
Wolf"
IloSe VINO oppose Organic Union not Great
ing any schism They stand by their church and
their faith given them by the santed defenders
of 1861. They not seeking to separate them
selves from any church. They are already sepa-
rated. The men who are proposing force this
union are the ones who guilty of the sin of
schism.
No reasonable man who views the present sftua
ton can hope to secure Organic Union or even
Federation, without tremendous conflict and if ac-
complished at ALL it would be by an unfortunate
division in the Southern Church There are tbous-
ahds OF members in the Southern Church who do