New Britain herald., 1924-06-07

f stamped III the OIu copy or lHJb) Ol Y him his image of Knowledge, of right
 Gousn 3ss and holiness; and by reasol } ot sin he hath plunged himself an, f consequently his posterity into stat, , Of sin and misery" In the Windso r Creed Covenant of 1647 which Bartol
 charaCterizes as the oldest creed il
 Connecticut. and one of the oldest 0 all Congregational crecda" simila,
 phrase occurs. by his fall he hatf
 plunged himself and all his posterity
 into miserable state. But this i'
 about the only resemblance. except
 the above mentioned phrase, the rule
 Of faith and manners"
 The keDsinston document as q whoIC
 is IS good summary Of the Wcstmin-
 stcr doctrine as have found anywhere
 However there is one surprising cX-
 ception, viz. That repentance, faith
 and obedience are the conditions ot
 salvation stated in the gospel" Inc
 whole tenor of the Westminster stan
 cards 5is that repentance and faith
 and still more. obedience are the
 fruits Of salvation, rather than the
 conditions. This article in the mids,
 Of this Calvinistic document is Of
 enthusiastically Arminian leaning.
 The next stage of investigation was
 10 make comparison with such other
 manuals as l had access to. The first
 real find in this process was at the 1 Congregational House Hartford,
 where l examined d considerable file
 of manuals that had not been classi- 1 fed and filed by index letters Among
 these was Manual of the North | Raven Church, containing Articles marked by some of the same peculiar l ities that 1 have noted here. They
 were taken from the Diary of Ezra 1 Stiles, President Of Yale College, II,
 4Gs,9, which l have since consulted. l They are described as The Confes- i sion Of Faith and Chh. Govt. for Ad- mission of Commitments in the Chh.
 at No. Haven was draughted by Mir.
 Whittelsey al my fathers ordinan | l724-to which l assented phblickly at my admission into the Chh. v 1 North Haven, Nov. s3, l746, act. i9". l He adds, 'l received this from Mir. | Street of East Haven, who received it l from my father the Rev. Isaac Stiles
 as the Form used by him in the Chh i of North Haven. May l never forget | these solems vows and covenant en- engagements" This contains the striking phrase, Has plunged himself 1 into a state of sin and misery" There l is also an article very similar to that we have noted as of Armenian tens 1 dency, You believe the necessity Of faith, repentance and holiness Of heart and life. in order to salvation"
 Substantially the same Articles and Covenant arc common 10 the two Mer-
 iden churches, dating from i7a9, and
 to Cheshire, l72a. These were formed from Wallingford, and Cheshire at any rate was organized by N. Chaun- cey Of Durham and Saml. Whittlesey
 Of Wallingford, They were brothers in law. Being related to Charles chauncey of Boston they represented
 the liberal theology Of that time, with | tendencies toward Arminanism. have been unable to secure any early
 symbols from Walingford.
 The nearest resent bldnce 10 the Ar- ticles that l am seeking 10 iden-
 tify, is found fin the Waterbury Church, from "A Book Of Records in inc First Church or Christ in Water bury" 179i. In Andersons History Of Waterbury they are said 10 date from the pastorate of Rev. Mark Leaven- worth. i740--l7s7. They do not ap- pear to be dependent upon the Ar tieies that we have been tracing. The Arminian clause 10 which our at- tention Is directed is in this form. We believe that repentance Of sin, faith in Jesus Christ and now obedi- ence are conditions and qualifications Of eternal Life" The Covenant, which have only recently obtained is brief and simple, and does not appear to have affected the kensington Cove nant.
 Rev Bcnoni rpson was native of Waterbury, and Mark Leavenworth, the Waterbury minister is the first mentioned member Of the council Of ordination at kensington in 177a. lt ! Is hardly to be questioned that Ken sington is chiefly indebted to this | source for the Articles and that they | were introduced at this time, follow 1 ing the break caused by the division ! of the parish, the death of the former , minister, Samuel Clark, and the de- l precision Of the Revolutionary War. Moreover our oldest copy is entitled . Articles Of Faith Of the Ecelesiasti- . cal Society kensington." And the Covenant contains this phrase, "We then. the Church Of our Lord Jesus Christ in this place tBcrlin, kensing- ton Society," do receive you into our sacred fellowship" Such endorse ment may indicate that the church Tas not in working order and line Zee ssiss'ical Society wss performing some church functions. as %. [. inc rali or the minister, Mf. Upson. Mem ton Of the toan of Berlin, incorpor- sfe1 i1 1885. Is later than the con- jecfHred origin or the document.
 There is one fufth.. stcp. in which the one remaining older church in the Asaocla'ion is concerned. in the same tear that M+. tpson Ffas ordained in i."ns.ugtDn. William Eobinson wa ralinI 10 southinrton. where he hal. iten preaching for sutne fime. nhiIe stH tutor at Yalr. \ Confession or a'f1 ani Church Cutrranr sufstanfi- aHr tBa came as those wv haze been
 ou7tdrr.rr af krnsfngton v.rc a8opt-
 Q, tr aEr. aHf of tu. church and s-'ar .".. THrrs afs some t,ri8l .ar'afr"ns. f7. arf5rre nH .ath. aHien . -*s fsr'a s'-.#is sfut.c.l i1 k. raad-. 'fH#' fsi'n ta caf.sg ss tn. only te~Tr 70. gu .Hta'."7 5n tB~ stzat uf God. 1at aita which. tHfie u works by .o. @- iz sr'r connected with EaI1y =ar~oa and productive of HsN oBeIi- r-r-"
 Ia aH."f o1 Hfpi =m l7 dlat5pc- 5*.. "9hat taIa -H i- fo be aamin-