The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-08-19
RESBYTERIANISM
REV. DR.. ROBERTS ON WHY
IT is MARROW"
Preaching on Tenets of His Church, Says
Reason Is Because It 0beys
Word of God.

Good citizenship, civic liberty ano
Righteousness are things Presbyterianism
stands for" said the Rev. DIR. William II
Roberts, preaching to a large congregation
in the Third Presbyterian Church yesterday
morning on the subject What the Pres
byterian Church Stands For" in which he
explained why the Presbyterian faith is
narrow" DIR. Roberts is moderator and
stated clerk of the General Assembly OF
the Presbyterian Church in the United
States, and members of that faith from
all over the city attended the services tc
hear the eloquent and learned divine. DR..
Roberts said in part:
The churches Of a nation are both causes
and effects In relation to national devel-
opment and welfare. As causes they oper-
ate to make the national life q distinctive
life with marked characteristics. As ef-
fects they reveal In their own life features
which are stamped upon them by the
nation of which they are an integral
part. The churches and the nation in
nuence each other reciprocally and pow
erfully.
The Protestant churches have been
sources of life, power and progress In a
marked way to the nations In which they
predominant, and these nations have made
the churches themselves increasingly enter
can nation is In an emphatic sense
the outgrowth of the American churches,
and the churches have been in-
nuenced greatly in their development by
tA1 AAhNfthH " hNfRAt hA1 49, -
cause they are American. are instinct with
the democratic spirit, are full of a restless
life which seeks, through all outward
forms, the spiritual realities for which the
forms stand, and are possessed In a marked
way with worldwide ideas and hopes.
The Presbyterian Church has always
stood on this continent for the government
of the people, by the people, and for the
people. 1t is historically the first OF Amer
icand federal republics.
Some Presbyterian principles are the
an1In1itu of man hpfOrn the law. QDSO-
lutte liberty of conscience, the right
of the people to. choose their W
rulers and make their " laws, and
ment as the best government for man. The
beginnings of these and other ruling ideas
were brought to this new land by those
Protestant Christians of Europe that We're
our ecclesiastical ancestors and were early
developed upon our soil. To these trans
planted ideas the great principle OF the alb
solute separation of the church from the
state, a principle of purely American orr
gin, was added, and was acknowledged Off
cially by American Presbyterlans In 1729.
Our church has stood in our country for
two centuries, emphasizing the rights. of
the individual and the rights and welfare
of all the people; Not by political action
as G church has fbis It re eeeomtpiTIht s in a
struments of work have been the ex-
ample furnished by It's own system Of
government. the teachings OF Its pulplas
bers. For instance. In no spirit OF boast
fulness. but in a spirit of thankfulness to
God, do We point out that two of the last
three Presidents, and the present Presi-
dent of the United States came out OF
Presbyterian homes. Abraham Lincoln was
of the Presbyterian way of thinking.
future in this land is Christian churches,
which realize practically the value of the
individual, which believe In all the people
bya fnlS' church stands FOR the recog-
milton of the rights and duties of the laity
In the church. The right of the people to
determine the government and control htlro the
is a distinctive Presbyterian principle. AS
a principle 1t is one of the New Testament
Ideas which were given new life and power
by the Protestant Reformation OF the six
teenth century, and which has received
largest recognition In English speaking
lands. especially in the United States of
America. The American Presbyterian
Church from its foundation in 1905 has been
governed by representative bodies, in
which ruling elders as representatives of
the people are seated with ministers. This
recognition of the rights and duties of the
people in the church, springing out of the
New Testament emphasis upon the minis
try of gifts, as distinct from the ministry
Of office, has been the source OF much of
the progress made by many American de-
nominations.
At the beginning Of our history as a
nation only the churches of the Puritan
and the Presbyterian families acknowl-
edged this popular right and obligation,
but since that day all the Protestant
churches have Incorporated the principle
Into their administrative system In greater
or less degree. The time has come when, to
maintain its character as an aggressive
and progressive church, the Presbyterian
Church In the United States of America
must give further expression to the vital
principle of the rights and duties of the
laity by the fuller organization of Its
members, especially Its men, as working
forces for the moral and spiritual welfare
of Tim ma finn md nf thn world
The Presbyterian Church stands for the
spirituality of the church. 1t has always
been the clear and definite teaching of the
American Presbyterian Church that not
only is the church a spiritual body, but
also that it's purposes and objects are
purely spiritual. This principle as to the
in that word of Christ which declares that
His kingdom is not of this world.
The Presbyterian Church stands for
the unity of the church. When 1t was or
ganized, In 1706, 1t stood for the undivided
Presbyterian forces of the American colo
MES. No other Presbyterian denomination
been always true to the grand definition
of the church universal contained in the
Westminster confession, and as a result
has always acknowledged as brethren all
Divisions there have been in the church,
but they sooner or later have been, or will
be. healed. The spirit OF our church is
is widely disseminated In our land. This
is the age not of division, but of unity,
and P~resbyterians respond largely to the
attractive influences which are abroad, and
which tend to the general acknowledgment
of Christian brotherhood and to coopera-
ton in oil Christian work.
The Presbyterian Church has been noted
In every generation for Its fidelity to its
convictions as to truth. 1t has magni-
fled the Word of God above all other
sources and forms OF truth, and as the
only infallible rule of faith and conduct.
1t is true that Its fidelity to truth has
been one cause of complaint against 1t by