Year: 1872

The meetings Of the General Synod of the


Reformed Churches will probably come to a close


in day or two. They have been more useful in


publishing to the world the present phase through


which Protestant thought is passing than in con-


structing an ecclesiastical organization that is


likely TO last. From this point of view, the result


Of these interesting discussions has been rather


to show the weakness than the strength of the


French Protestant Church, since in all tie votes


it has proved Church divided against itself in


the average proportion of three parts against two.


There seems something anomalous in a Church


deciding upon its theology by 8" going into d.
vision upon it, and it may fairly be questioned


how long Chnrch founded on divisions is likely


to last as a compact organization. The Left and


Left Centre think that their opponents have


pushed their rights as a majority to the point o.


tyranny, and where the thing tyrannized over is


not ones political but ones religious conscience,


the minister of the Gospel finds it more difficult


to go with his party" than the Deputy of the


Assembly or the Member of the House Of Com


mons. However in all cases the sensation Of


forcing ones convictions is disagreeable one,


end the Left have struggled hard for a theological


loophole by means Of which they might save their


moral freedom while still belonging to the


Church. They have continued to make conces-


sions to orthodoxy. and to argue against it with


much warmth and intelligence, but always with


the fatal objection staring them in the face that
sooner or later the arbitrary principle to which
they object in matters of religious belief would
have to be introduced for, as one of their oppo-
nents, NJ. Delmar, said


We must decide upon limit beyond which
one ceases to be Christian. The Liberals them.
selves have fixed one-the Gospel and their con-
sciences but how many Gospels and consciences
may there not be? On this principle we should
have to tolerate in our pulpits oil the errors and
folies that have been from time to time practiced
under this plea


There has been q great deal of reteration in
the arguments on both sides, because every point .
which arose for discussion involved the sane I
principle, and the speakers showed much ingenu- /
ity in the changes which they rang on this theme /
For instance the debate on the qualifications for /
an elector and for a minister turned very much |
on the same point. In both cases, the ques-
tiOn was what these two classes of persons
ought to believe, and then whether one class
ought not to believe more than the other and
the shade Of difference in the amount Of faith
required from those who vote for the preachers
and those who preach to the voters is expressed


n the declarations which were ultimately forced .
by the majority upon the unwilling minority.
Electors are qualified by declaration that -" they
remain sincerely attached to the Reformed
Church, and to the Evangelical truth revealed in
the books OF the Old and New Testaments"
Candidates for the ministry are qualified before
by a declaration that they adhere
to the faith of the Church as laid down by the
Geperal Synod" 1t will thus be seen that.
although the elector must profess himself sin
cerely attached to the Reformed Church, he need
not subscribe to its profession of faith. The Left
fought hard to obtain for the preacher as much
latitude Of religious opinion as was accorded to
those who were qualified to elect him, but the
delicate nudncs above indicated was carried
by considerable majority. NJ. Camille Rubaud,
protesting against this result, said, A confession
of faith obligatory upon the pastor and the
eectOr is vice which more and more contracts
the conscience, and subOrdinates piety to fixed
form of belief NJ. Chabriere Aries, son-in-law
of the late NJ. ArlesDufour, of Lyons, spoke still
more strongly in the same sense "You are
called TO establish peace, and you set everything
on FIRE, but you will not make US aymen accept
~ r. IL. r.. Al m
cause of the Liberal clergy is our cause, and we
will remain with them in the house Of our fathers
But the most original and suggestive speech was
that of NJ. Gaufres. He compared the tendency
to compose dOctrinal formulary, which ;he
Right have insisted upon with the dOgmatic alb
solutism of Rome BE said