The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1906-01-10


o. That the Committee Home and Foreign Mis-
sions are hereby enJomed ordered to promptly
and firmly enforce rule
Ihe preamble shows that this overture does not
eohhhe attention To the foreign missions but CON
templates the whole Wherever the gospel II,
preached and polygamy But the overture
Is continually spoken relating only to the For
eign Missions. Read the Whereas"
Inc overture does not deal with an abstraction or
an hypothetical case, but with actual state of
TACT, Tor there a number OF poIygamsts i'm orr
ehurch III Africa and China, notably at Luebo IN
Africa.
NO steps have been taken by the courts of the
'" toward tne exclusion OF those polygamists
III our churcn though attention has been called
TO 1T, nor have the missionaries who admitted them
been restrained admitting others at their dis
creation; they nave not not to do
As things stand who knows whereunto
this thing Will grow. SO that it open
question whether the heather be Christanlzed
OF our mission churches heathenized.
All parties agreed that polygamy is sim and
that the poygamous relation violation OF the
law of monogamy, which instituted by Christ as
the law of his kingdom, and hence it a sinful rea-
tlon Herein polygamy differs radically from slav-
cry. The sacred Scriptures regulate the duties
which spring out of the relation of the bondservant
10 ms MASTER but II does not recognize moral duties
as springing out of sinful relations The duty IN
that case Is to abandon and break up the relation
The adulterer must separate his mistress or
concubine. In the of incest at Cornth, Paul
the in hand and ordered that the licentous
offender should at once be ted-"delivGr
such one unto Satan" Read the whole of Cor
V)-though the corrupt sentiment of the Church had
tolerated it.
At the CREATION the conjugal reIation ordained
Tor the race between one man and woman, and it
Is notable that conugal duties recognized
nor enJolned except arising out of the monoga-
nous relation of and his wife, neUer lciues;
or woman and her husband, neUeI husbands Jesus
Chrlst Lfted this natural law OF monogamy binding
on all men into the spiritual sphere of his church.
The plural sex relation is of adultery whether
by man The provision of the overture
Is that these adulterous relations shall not be ad
mltted INTO the Church nor tolerated in it.
As matter of fact, the separation contemplated
in the overture has been egregously misrepresented
as lronclad, harsh and cruel There is not
OF truth in such epithets. 1t is not unreasonable
for man to conine his attention as husband to his
one wife. As to the other women it is simply in all
reason and decency required of him discontinued
cohabitation with them; but in manner to dis
continue his support OF them and their children.
Ills becoming a member of the Church would not
lessend his ability and should increase his DISPOSE
ton to do and to still be their best friend and
protector, in duty bound toward those dependent
on him. The overture provides in terms that if he
Is not able to discharge fully these duties those
dependent upon him without aid, then the church
shall aid him. Hence the entire mixed family would
be placed in better living condition than before This
Is Kindness, not cruelty.
Confession of Faith Chapter xiv "Of MARRIAGE
and Divorce" section first, is in the following words
Marriage is to be between and one woman,
neither is it lawful for any to have more than
one vile, nor for any woman to have than
husband at the time" The overture is no
stricter than this provision of the Constitution Of
the Church, and it is meant to render it operative
and 1t is not easy to how anyone who accepts the
Constitution of the Church oppose this overture
In many parts of the heather world the woman is
the breadwinner and support the and their chill
dren and hence the main result of the separation in
such would be to set the loafer to work. As
rule the described horrors of separation thus
templated utter fiction and fraud