The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-09
INDEPENDENT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OFFICERS ISSUE FORMAL STA TEMENT| Publications
 

that it cannot be either increased or di- minished'
 And here the statement of the Atlanta assembly:
 "'We thus declare that Gods electing grace has peopled heaven with a multi tude that no man can number, and has never sent one soul to hell
 That is the explanation-or rather the deniaI-but it has never been put into the creed itself The creed is held in violate. Our two exceptions are writ ten into the creed of our church itself.
 Some things have been said about those two exceptions not covering all of main divergences and are so framed as to
 include a numbe rof them. Other minor matters We cover in our interpretation of the expression the general system of doctrine as contained in the Westmn- ster confession which we cain to ac- cept. However, we have no hesitancy in saying that the confession ought to be rewritten in greatly simplified and great ly shortened form.
 ''Dr. Edmonds, in his examination be- fore Presbytery, answered all questions from the Bible. He invowed the history of sacrifices among the semitic nations in general, he dwelt upon the Levitical system, he adduced the teachings of the prophets and of the Psalms, he brought forward the words of Jesus and the New Testament writers, he followed the whole history of thought about the atonement showing that the fact stood but that the orieS about it had changed from time to time; he proved that the leaders of reg- ious thinking in America and the world no longer held the old mechanical the ores with their mediaeval ideas of the character of God and of the nature of justice. He held that atonement meant at-one-ment; that all the facts in the case and all the scriptural passages cer- tainly allowed the interpretation that Jesus Christ died to reconcile man to God-not God to man. He was not con- tending that his own theory was essen tial, but merely for the privilege of hold ing his while other men held theirs. But it was of no use The Presbytery had made up it's mind and would not be changed.
 It is certain that the committee was strangely immovable under the represen- tations of our men; certain it is that the leaders would not let the matter go to a vote of the presbytery when it recon- vened, but insisted that it be sent back to the committee for written deliver ance; certain it is that when Dr. Me Dougall presented a substitute resolution declaring that while there were differences between them and pr. Edmonds yet these differences were not essential the moder-
 
 said. it was not germane to the subject We have been unable so far quite to get his point of view.
 We have mentioned the prohibition to speak write on the subjects under discussion as making it impossible for Dr. Edmonds to remain in his pulpit with any degree of self-respect. Let us look now at the way in which other parts of the presbytery's deliverance even height ened that impossibility.
 Speaking of the particular theory of the atonement to which they held, they said among other things:
 It was the absolutely essential pre- condition of the forgiveness of human sins 1. This doctrine of vicarious sacrifice is not only essential in itself but is fun damental to the whole system. This doc Urine carries with it the whole gospel and our entire religious and eccle- slastical life. Any attempt to modify this is in effect an attempt to discard the whole system of religion we have in 1 herited from our fathers
 1 They then held that Dr. EdmUnds was at variance with the church in that abso- | lutely essential respect. The net result of | the holding thus was that Dr. Edmonds' 1 teachings destroyed the entire system of religion and carried with it the whole gos- 1 pei, and yet surprise is expressed that Dr. Edmonds should have felt that he could not remain after such an indict- ment.
 We do not believe that the Pope of | Rome ever uttered words as extreme and harsh and as entirely wanting in fact and reason concerning Martin Luther, or .ehn Knox, or John Calvin. The language i used was in excess of the truths of his 1 tory; it was in excess of the truths of the | Bible; 1t was in excess of the truths of the particular case at hand with which l they were dealing. It is well known that there are several theories of the atone ment held by men in this age and in for mer ages whose Christian character and standing have never been questioned, and whose usefulness as ministers of the gos- l pei has never been impaired
 Tn other words, here is a man who pretends to be Christian or thinks he is. l but who in reality, has surrendered the one essential. The one thing necessary he has not; therefore, he has nothing Not only so, but it was decreed that the deliverance should be read from the pulpit of the South Highlands Presby- terian church the following Sunday. Now, let us put alongside of this ulti- | matum some contrary opinions. First, Dr. Edmonds has. since this trouble arose been invited into practically every de- nomination except his Own-Ba ptist, Meth l odist Christian, Congregational, Epsco- pal, and letters from individuals of the Northern Presbyterian church have