Author: Carolyn Wells
Year: 1917
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9781974580873
1974580873 |
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Scanned, proofed and corrected from the original hardcover edition for enjoyable reading.
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An excerpt from the PREFACE: I had better not resign my position in the church. I doubt the legality of such a move. But if it were legal, why should I do it? I could but swim back thitherward as soon as I was able. Why should I not invite my Presbytery to keep me in? And, now, as to the possibility of that. Two things occur to me. (1) In the first place, there are differences already. Turretin believes that Christ was generated by the Father. So does our Confession. A member of my Presbytery teaches that that is nowhere taught in Scripture. Our creed teaches a marked Eschatology, conspicuous in which is the advent of Christ, and a judgment at the last day. A member of my Presbytery teaches a pre-millenarian scheme; and traverses much in my Confession. So of an external church. My Confession accentuates it. My brethren make light of it. The six days' creation: that is taught in our symbols. Who believes it? I myself would be, perhaps, one of the few men in my Presbytery to adhere prevailingly to the ancient thinking. Now, who will draw the line? A man publishes one year a kenosis of the Deity, and an actual suffering of God on the cross on Calvary. He is an excellent brother, and he is made the Moderator of the next Assembly. Undoubtedly, then, difference from the Confession will not cast a man out of the Church. The question is, How serious is it? And my course seems to be to defend my belief. If I can make it appear secondary; if I can show that I hold the vitals of the gospel; if I can prove that I am not a Socinian; if I can show that I approach my faith from another quarter; if I can show that Arminius and Pelagius and Arius have neither tampered with me; but that I am a high Calvinist in all the realities of my creed, -then my Presbytery will have to determine whether one symptom of a Socinian's belief cannot become a feature in a far lesser disease, and whether a hypostatic difference in the Godhead is in such sense vital to the faith, that a minister must go out of his church, even if he puts the WHOLE GODHEAD in Christ, and builds on that scheme a perfect redemption. The Presbytery must decide. (2) But may I not say another thing; How is a great church like ours to be corrected of any error? It may be answered, It has none. But is that certain? The time was when this very church persecuted. The time was when it was largely Jacobite. Across the sea it is still Erastian. In some cases at least, it holds sacramental error. What is the relief? Must it be groomed with a foreign comb; or may it do something to its own recuperation? Suppose the Trinity were a mistake; suppose it had bestrid the gospel in its earlier planting. Suppose it were a Platonic set, grafted by the Jews, and inarched from them into the faith of Christians. Suppose that John opposed it, and that his first strong text was meant to fence it out (Jo. i: 1),-how is the church to become satisfied of that? Why may there not be a little pause? And why must it be by bell and torch that the church must expel the truth, and that the light must go out from established fanes, and shine into some shieling church, that must become, in turn, the inveterate oppressor? May God in his infinite mercy protect the truth! And if there be any who pity me, may they offer this prayer,-first, that I may be brought out of dangerous mistake; and, second, that I may behave humbly and well; so that when I have gained time enough to have my brethren thoroughly look into my case to see whether I am in dangerous error, or to see whether they themselves are certain of their faith, I may, if the Church is against me, do nothing to distract her; but step aside, with a modest doubt of myself, and with a heightened earnestness, to pray and find out, after such a verdict, what can really be known of the truth of the Almighty. --Jno. Miller, Pr1nceton, Oct. 2d, 1876.
This book is part of the "Fleming Stone" series. Here are some other books from this series:
 | "A Chain of Evidence"
First published in 1912
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 | "The Gold Bag"
First published in 1911
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