/^ 
 
 \^. 
 
 BX 9183 .R623 1895 
 
 Roberts, William Henry, 1844 
 
 -1920. 
 The Presbyterian system 
 
p 
 
 reebijterian Si^^tem 
 
 Its Characteristics, 
 Authority, and Obligation 
 
 :iB^ the 
 IRev. iraiimam 1benr^ IRoberts, 
 
 S).2)., %%.B. 
 
 philadelphia 
 
 Presbyterian Board of Publication 
 
 AND Sabbath-school Work 
 
 1895 
 
Copyright, 1895, by 
 THE TRUSTEES OF THE PRESBYTERIAN BOARD 
 OF PUBLICATION AND SABBATH- 
 SCHOOL WORK. 
 
pretators IKlote, 
 
 This brief treatise is an endeavor to set 
 forth, in a clear and definite manner, the 
 characteristics, authority and obligation of 
 the Presbyterian System. The controlling 
 idea of that System, the Sovereignty of God, 
 is exhibited in its influence thereupon, 
 both in its parts and as a whole. The 
 main features, as contained in the West- 
 minster Standards, are developed concisely 
 under the heads of Theology, Duty, Wor- 
 ship and Government. The extent of the 
 authority of these Standards over members 
 and officers of the Presbyterian Church, 
 and the general and individual obligations 
 involved in their acceptance, are also 
 indicated. The treatise is submitted to the 
 public, in the hope that it will prove help- 
 ful to a clear understanding of the nature 
 and relations of the Presbyterian System, 
 both as to faith and practice. 
 
 w. H. R. 
 
^be ipreabuterian Sijatcm^ 
 
 A systematic exhibit of Scriptural teach- 
 ing, both as to faith and practice, is in 
 accordance alike with the letter and spirit 
 of the word of God. Thus believing, the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 of America has framed forms of sound 
 words containing the principles and usages 
 which it maintains. In these pages an 
 endeavor is made concisely to exhibit that 
 system of truth which is contained in the 
 Standards of the Church, or, otherwise 
 worded, to answer the question, What are 
 the leading characteristics of the Presby- 
 terian system of faith and practice ? 
 
 I. Zbc controlling iDea. In dealing 
 with the Presbyterian system, it is neces- 
 sary first, to lay to one side any narrow 
 
 5 
 
G^be ipresb^terian System. 
 
 view of it that may have been acquired. 
 By the word *' Presbyterian' ' is not meant 
 simply an adherent of a particular form of 
 church government; and the term *^ Pres- 
 byterian system " is therefore not to be 
 understood as applicable merely to a code 
 of rules, by which the affairs of an ecclesi- 
 astical organization are administered. A 
 system, whether of philosophy or theology, 
 may be defined as a classification of related 
 truths arranged under one and the same 
 idea. No truth is altogether isolated, 
 every truth is related to some other, and 
 the harmonious relation of connected 
 truths each to the other, under a common 
 idea, is their presentation in the form of a 
 system. A system of truth must be judged, 
 not by any of its parts, neither by mere 
 incidental characteristics, but by all the 
 parts in their logical relation to the con- 
 trolling idea. 
 
 The doctrine of the divine sovereignty 
 is the controlling idea of the Presbyterian 
 system, both theoretically and practically. 
 By this sovereignty is meant, the absolute 
 control of the universe, with all that it has 
 
XLbc Presbyterian System. 
 
 contained, does and will contain, whether 
 visible things or invisible things, by the 
 one supreme, eternal, omniscient, omni- 
 present, and omnipotent Spirit, for wise, 
 just, holy and loving ends, known fully to 
 himself alone. 
 
 The Presbyterian system may be defined, 
 therefore, as being that body of religious 
 truths and laws of which the sovereignty 
 of God is the germ and nexus, the life and 
 soul. 
 
 II. Zbc organl3tng principle. The 
 sovereignty of God finds primary expres- 
 sion in the Presbyterian system, by ordain- 
 ing as its organizing principle, the sov- 
 ereignty of the word of God, as the norm 
 and rule of faith and practice. When 
 men seek to know what to believe and do, 
 it is natural that they should seek to ascer- 
 tain first, whether God, the Supreme 
 Spirit, who is eternal truth, has spoken to 
 them authoritatively in both particulars. 
 
 Christendom in general maintains that 
 God has spoken to man, and that the 
 result is to be found in the Holy Scripture. 
 While Christians, in general, however, 
 
^be ipresbstedan System. 
 
 regard the Bible as being the word of God, 
 it is not regarded by all claiming the 
 Christian name as the supreme rule of 
 belief and conduct. Nominal Christians 
 are divided on this great subject into four 
 classes, commonly known as Rationalists, 
 Liberals, Catholics, and Evangelicals. Ra- 
 tionalists deny that the Bible is in any 
 proper sense the word of God. Liberals, 
 many of whom are evangelical, affirm that 
 the word of God is contained in the Holy 
 Scripture, but they deny that the Holy 
 Scripture as an entirety is the word of 
 God. Further, some of them regard the 
 human reason as a source of authority in 
 religion, coordinate with Scripture. Cath- 
 olics (so-called) take a different view of the 
 Scripture as the rule of faith, from that of 
 the Rationalists. Whether of the Greek 
 Catholic, the Roman Catholic, or the 
 Anglican communion, they maintain that 
 the Bible is the word of God, but in addi- 
 tion hold that the traditions and the voice 
 of the Church are coordinate with the 
 Bible as sources of religious authority. 
 The natural result of this tendency ever 
 
^be Presbyterian System. 
 
 has been to substitute for the Holy Scrip- 
 ture the commandments of men and the 
 decrees of church councils. 
 
 Against the three above mentioned opin- 
 ions, evangelical Christians make reso- 
 lute stand. In opposition to the first two 
 they maintain that the Bible in its totality 
 is the '*very word of God;" that in its 
 every part it is the divinely inspired, in- 
 fallible, and supreme rule of faith and 
 practice. In opposition to the Catholics, 
 they reject utterly the traditions of men 
 from the rule of faith, and take as their 
 watchword the motto, *'The Bible, and 
 the Bible only, the religion of Protest- 
 ants." The position taken is this: That 
 the sovereignty of God involves the sov- 
 ereignty of God's word. Granted, that 
 God has revealed his truth to men in the 
 Scripture, then it follows, necessarily, that 
 neither the conclusions of the finite human 
 reason, nor the decrees of an infallible 
 church or Pope, but alone God's word, 
 can be the inerrant and supreme rule of 
 faith and life. When men have ascer- 
 tained that a given book is the word of 
 
^be ipresb^terian System* 
 
 God, then because God has spoken, they 
 must accept it as supremely authoritative 
 in all its parts. Face to face with God's 
 word, the human reason is to deal, not 
 with questions of acceptance, but of inter- 
 pretation. The Presbyterian position is 
 one here with the evangelical position, 
 declaring that the supreme and infallible 
 rule of faith and practice is the whole 
 Bible, and the Bible only. The Presby- 
 terian system accepts and incorporates, as 
 of perpetual binding obligation, only those 
 things which can be proven to be of Scrip- 
 tural origin and warrant. And this is the 
 reason why its great organizing principle 
 finds statement in the first chapter of the 
 Westminster Confession. Presbyterians 
 put first in their creed, the rule which 
 determines what shall be included in and 
 what excluded from their Standards, state 
 first their doctrine ''Of the Holy Scrip- 
 ture. ' ' 
 
 III. Zbc rigbt of Denominational as* 
 SOCiation. The acceptance of the word 
 of God as the supreme and infallible mle 
 of faith and practice, brings men next face 
 
^be ipresb^tevian System. 
 
 to face with the questions, ''What is the 
 relation of the individual to the interpreta- 
 tion of God's word, and what also is the 
 relation thereto of Christians as organized 
 into denominations?" The first inquiry 
 is answered in the Presbyterian Standards 
 from the position, that the sovereignty of 
 God involves the principle that '' God 
 alone is Lord of the conscience." To 
 God, as Master, every man standeth or 
 falleth. Because God is sovereign, there- 
 fore is the Scripture the supreme rule of 
 faith and practice, and therefore, also, is 
 every Christian entitled to interpret the 
 Scripture for himself, in accordance with the 
 precepts which are given therein. Before 
 creeds are formulated, or organization 
 begins, or church constitutions are framed, 
 evangelical religion, as expressed in its Pres- 
 byterian form, brings God and the human 
 soul into direct contact, without any inter- 
 vening obstacles, arising from the processes 
 of the human reason or the declarations of 
 any church. In the Presbyterian Standards 
 this fact is stated in the following words : 
 " God alone is Lord of the conscience, 
 
^be ipresb^terian Sisstem, 
 
 and hath left it free from the doctrines 
 and commandments of men which are in 
 any thing contrary to his word, or beside 
 it, in matters of faith or worship.* There- 
 fore they consider the rights of private 
 judgment, in all matters that respect 
 religion, as universal and unalienable, "f 
 
 The right of private judgment, thus 
 sharply announced, involves, however, not 
 only the right of every man to interpret, 
 with due reverence towards God, the Scrip- 
 ture for himself, but also the right of every 
 man to enter into association with other 
 men, for the attainment of the high 
 and holy ends of the Christian religion. 
 Discussion as to the value of denomina- 
 tional church organizations is out of place 
 here, but it is insisted that they are war- 
 ranted both by human nature and the 
 Scripture. Sufficient is it to point out the 
 position which the Presbyterian Church 
 takes in the matter. It declares in the 
 Form of Government, Chapter i, Section 
 2, ''That, in perfect consistency with the 
 
 * Confession, XX, 2. 
 
 f Form of Government, I, i. 
 
above principle of common right [/. <?., 
 private judgment], every Christian church, 
 or union or association of particular 
 churches, is entitled to declare the terms 
 of admission into its communion, and the 
 qualifications of its ministers and members, 
 as well as the whole system of its internal 
 government which Christ hath appointed : 
 that, in the exercise of this right they may, 
 notwithstanding, err, in making the terms 
 of communion either too lax or too narrow ; 
 yet, even in this case, they do not infringe 
 upon the liberty, or the rights of others, 
 but only make an improper use of their 
 own." 
 
 By virtue, therefore, of the twin rights 
 of private judgment and voluntary associa- 
 tion, those professing Christians known as 
 Presbyterians have voluntarily combined 
 together, agreeably to the Holy Scripture, 
 for the maintenance of what they are con- 
 vinced is the Scriptural system of faith and 
 practice, of worship and administration. 
 If Presbyterians err in claiming that the 
 Presbyterian system is the Scriptural sys- 
 tem, or in adopting and maintaining this 
 
 «3 
 
Zbc f>re5bstenan System* 
 
 system, then, " they do not infringe upon 
 the liberty, or the rights of others, but only 
 make an improper use of their own." 
 Presbyterians, however, with all due re- 
 spect to those who differ from them, be- 
 lieve that the views held by them are 
 Scriptural, and therefore require from min- 
 isters, ruling elders, and deacons, at ordi- 
 nation, the sincere reception and adoption 
 of the denominational Confession of Faith, 
 and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, as 
 containing the " system of doctrine taught 
 in the Holy Scriptures," and equally sin- 
 cere approval of the Form of Government, 
 and the other administrative standards of 
 the Church. 
 
 IV. ^be main features of the Presby- 
 terian system. The statement of these fea- 
 tures follows naturally after the consider- 
 ations just presented. The lines of devel- 
 opment are those common to all religions — 
 theology, duty, worship and government. 
 
 I. Theology. The fundamental feature 
 of the Presbyterian system is a body of 
 theology, or a statement of what we are to 
 believe concerning God, in himself, and 
 
Zbc jpresb^terian System* 
 
 in his relations to man. The general 
 name " Calvinistic " has been given to this 
 body of theology, but the term does not 
 express the whole truth with reference 
 thereto. While every doctrine in the sys- 
 tem has its origin in the word of God, 
 and while its form of statement is con- 
 trolled by the idea of the divine sover- 
 eignty, nevertheless there are doctrines in 
 the Confession of Faith and the Catechisms 
 other than those which are peculiarly Cal- 
 vinistic. The Presbyterian doctrinal Stand- 
 ards contain three great theological ele- 
 ments, each of which is entitled to a dis- 
 tinctive name. The first element consists 
 of the doctrines generally held by all Chris- 
 tians, the second of the doctrines main- 
 tained by all Protestants, the third of those 
 doctrines which are peculiarly Calvinistic. 
 The general or universal Christian element 
 consists of such doctrines as those of the 
 existence of God, of the unity of God, of 
 the Trinity, of the plan of God, of crea- 
 tion, of providence, of the fall of man, of 
 sin and its punishment, of the freedom of 
 the human will, of the person of Christ, of 
 15 
 
Zbc IPresbgterian System. 
 
 the personality of the Holy Ghost, of sal- 
 vation through a divine Redeemer, and of 
 the resurrection of the dead. Upon such 
 doctrines as these, in their general form, 
 however they may vary in particulars. 
 Christians are substantially a unit. The 
 second great element, the Protestant, con- 
 sists of such doctrines as, the supremacy of 
 the Holy Scripture as the only inspired 
 and infallible rule of faith, the lordship of 
 God over the conscience, the vicarious sac- 
 rifice and sole mediatorship of Christ, the 
 justification of the penitent sinner by faith 
 alone, the passing of saints at death imme- 
 diately into heaven, and their instant and 
 complete perfection in the state of glory. 
 Such doctrines as these unite evangelical 
 Protestants in their several subdivisions in 
 a vital oneness of faith. The third ele- 
 ment in the Confession is the distinctively 
 Calvinistic, and consists of the doctrines 
 which are ordinarily called the five points 
 of Calvinism. These five points are : (i) 
 Unconditional as opposed to condi- 
 tional predestination ; (2) definite atone- 
 ment or particular redemption as opposed 
 
CTbe ipresb^tcrian System* 
 
 to indefinite atonement ; (3) total as op- 
 posed to partial depravity ; (4) efficacious as 
 opposed to uncertain grace ; (5) final as 
 opposed to partial perseverance. These 
 five points are the differentiating features 
 of the Reformed or Presbyterian doctrine, 
 the points which separate Calvinists from 
 other evangelical Christians. Many Bap- 
 tists and Congregationalists, and some 
 Episcopalians and Methodists, are, on the 
 five points of Calvinism, theologically at 
 one with Presbyterians. 
 
 The controlling idea of the Presbyterian 
 system, that of the sovereignty of God, is 
 vitally related to each of these elements of 
 confessional theology. The several univer- 
 sal doctrines referred to, and set forth in 
 the Confession, affirm reverently and em- 
 phatically that God is j that he exists as a 
 Trinity in unity; that he is the eternal, 
 infinitely holy, wise and good, omniscient, 
 omnipresent and omnipotent Spirit ; that 
 from all eternity he planned his universe, 
 with all things therein; that he created 
 all things ; that he governs all things ; that 
 the free will of man is his gift, involving- 
 
 «7 
 
^be IPrcsbBterian System* 
 
 man's responsibility to his Creator; that 
 he permitted sin and has fixed its punish- 
 ment j that salvation from sin is by him 
 of whom it is written : " God so loved the 
 world, that he gave his only begotten Son, 
 that whosoever believeth in him should 
 not perish;" that all men shall rise one 
 day from the dead, and shall receive at the 
 bar of God the awards of final destiny. 
 
 The Protestant element in the Confes- 
 sion is also controlled by the divine sover- 
 eignty as its dominating idea. Because 
 God is sovereign, therefore Presbyterians 
 believe that God's word is the only inspired 
 and infallible rule of faith ; that every man 
 is directly responsible in matters of religion 
 to God ; that there is no other method of 
 salvation for sinners than through the sac- 
 rifice and mediation of Jesus Christ ; that 
 not good works, but faith in the God-man, 
 Jesus Christ, is the sole condition of salva- 
 tion ; and last, but not least, that a middle 
 state after death has no existence, but that 
 there are only two places wherein departed 
 souls abide — heaven and hell. Protestant 
 Christians do not believe that the Church 
 
 i8 
 
Vkbc presbsterian Sgatem. 
 
 or the human reason are sources of divine 
 authority in religion ; that men can exer- 
 cise compulsion in matters of belief; that 
 sinners can be saved in any other way ex- 
 cept through Christ ; that the grace of God 
 can be purchased with good works ; that 
 believers must wait a long period after the 
 death of the body for the advent of the 
 hour, when the gates of pearl shall open 
 and admit them to the Saviour's real pres- 
 ence. Because God is sovereign, therefore 
 is the Bible the supreme law, man respon- 
 sible to God, salvation conditioned alone 
 upon faith, the grace of God without 
 money and without price, and heaven an 
 immediate certainty at the close of the 
 earthly life. 
 
 In the Calvinistic element of the Con- 
 fession, we find the same magnifying of 
 the divine sovereignty which has charac- 
 terized the two preceding classes of Chris- 
 tian doctrine. The famous five points of 
 Calvinism are simply the affirmation of the 
 sovereignty of God in its relation to the 
 salvation of the individual. For Presbyte- 
 rians, the salvation of every believer is 
 
^be Presbyterian System* 
 
 from all eternity a part of the great plan of 
 him, without whom not even a sparrow 
 falleth to the ground. Presbyterians be- 
 lieve, in regard to every true Christian, 
 that his salvation is not a reward for faith, 
 but that faith and salvation both are gifts 
 of God ; that each believer is the object of 
 a peculiar, definite, gracious, costly, vic- 
 torious and everlasting love ; that the power 
 and tendency of sin in man is of such a 
 nature that he is utterly unable to save 
 himself; that regeneration is an act of God, 
 and of God alone, a sinner cannot be both 
 father and child ; that when the Spirit of 
 God moves efficaciously in a human soul, 
 the new life must result ; and that the soul 
 whom God hath loved in Jesus Christ, he 
 loveth to the end, the regenerate person is 
 not of the number of those '*who draw 
 back unto perdition ; but of them that be- 
 lieve to the saving of the soul." * Cal- 
 vinism makes him who is the author of 
 the universe to be the author of salvation ; 
 maintains that the love of God in Christ, 
 the love even unto death, deals not with 
 
 *Heb. X. 39. 
 
Zbc Presbyterian System* 
 
 men in the mass, but with each soul in par- 
 ticular ; that he who is the source of all 
 life and love bestows efficaciously upon 
 utterly helpless man both life and grace ; 
 and that once a child of God, always a 
 child of God. God's plan, God's love, 
 God's life, God's promise, God's power, 
 make salvation for the believer not a mere 
 arbitrary necessity, but a most gracious 
 and glorious certainty. Arranged in an 
 order determined by man's lost estate in 
 sin, the five points of Calvinism start 
 with man's inability, owing to sin, 
 to save himself, and then describe the 
 four steps in salvation : predestination, re- 
 demption, conversion, and sanctification 
 culminating in glorification. Here is Cal- 
 vinism in its original form : ^' All that the 
 Father giveth me shall come to me; and 
 him that cometh to me I will in no wise 
 cast out."* "My sheep hear my voice, 
 and I know them, and they follow me: 
 and I give unto them eternal life; and 
 they shall never perish, neither shall any 
 man pluck them out of my hand."f ''Now 
 
 ♦John vi. 37. f John x. 28. 
 
^be ipresbgterfan Si26tem. 
 
 unto him that is able to keep you from fall- 
 ing, and to present you faultless before the 
 presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 
 to the only wise God our Saviour, be 
 glory and majesty, dominion and power, 
 both now and ever. Amen."* 
 
 The Presbyterian theology is consistent 
 from beginning to end. Acknowledging 
 the divine sovereignty in all things, both 
 in nature, in providence and in grace, it 
 refers whatsoever comes to pass to the 
 good pleasure of God. Rationalism gives 
 the control of the universe and all it con- 
 tains to blind, unintelligent natural forces. 
 Rationalism ends either in deism, infidel- 
 ity or fatalism. Arminianism makes man 
 to a large extent the arbiter of destiny, and 
 so cripples faith and dims hope by intro- 
 ducing, as controlling factors in the uni- 
 versal scheme of things, the whims and 
 waywardness and uncertainty inherent in 
 human nature. The Presbyterian system 
 maintains, that the all-wise, all-knowing, 
 almighty, everywhere present, just, loving, 
 supreme and eternal Spirit, has created and 
 
 *Jude 25. 
 
XLbc ipresb^terian Si^stem* 
 
 does uphold, has guided and will continue 
 to guide, the whole universe, in all its 
 parts, as well tiny flowret as flaming sun, 
 as well sinful man as holy archangel, until 
 the divine purposes shall find their con- 
 summation in the deliverance from the bond- 
 age of corruption of a groaning and travail- 
 ing creation. Presbyterians believe that 
 beneath, above, around, and in all of this 
 scheme of things which we call the uni- 
 verse, in its parts as well as in its totality, 
 in its past, its present and its future, there 
 has been, is, and will be, a dominant will, 
 a kingly righteousness, an imperial love, 
 the will, the righteousness, the love, which 
 is God. They believe neither in fate nor 
 in man as the supreme arbiter of destiny, 
 but in God the Father Almighty. 
 
 2. Z>u/'y. Another class of the essential 
 doctrines of the Presbyterian system deals 
 with human duty. Moral principles and 
 precepts are laid down therein with great 
 clearness. There is no uncertain sound in 
 the statements of the Standards as to the 
 laws and characteristics of human conduct. 
 The chief doctrines concerning duty are 
 23 
 
XTbe iPresb^terian System, 
 
 those of the free agency of man, of the law 
 of God, of sin, of faith in Christ, of good 
 works, of Christian liberty, of lawful oaths 
 and vows, of the civil magistrate, of mar- 
 riage and divorce, and of final judgment. 
 These doctrines also are placed in logical 
 relation to the divine sovereignty. Pres- 
 byterians affirm because God is sovereign, 
 therefore, that man's free agency is a fore- 
 ordained element of his being and involves 
 his responsibility to God ; that the moral 
 law as contained in the Ten Command- 
 ments, and amplified in the New Testa- 
 ment, is always binding upon men ; that 
 all human conduct in thought, word or 
 deed, which is contrary to God's law, is 
 sin ; that faith in Christ is obligatory upon 
 all who hear the gospel ; that men may not 
 bind the consciences of other men as to 
 right and wrong, except in harmony with 
 God's word; that Christians must show 
 forth by godly living the truth of their 
 profession of religion ; that good works 
 are the test and evidence of adoption into 
 the household of God, not a ground for 
 salvation ; that men cannot bind them- 
 
 a4 
 
^be ipresb^terian System. 
 
 selves to perform wrongful acts; that God's 
 name is ever to be held in supreme rever- 
 ence ; that the State is a divine institution 
 as well as the Church ; that obedience to 
 rightful civil authority is obedience to 
 God ; that in both Church and State the 
 family is the source and safeguard of true 
 prosperity; in short, that the precepts 
 governing men in their relations to each 
 other, whether personal, social, political or 
 ecclesiastical, are to be in full agreement 
 with the principles laid down in the word 
 of God. And to give resistless power to 
 these views of duty, Calvinism emphasizes 
 sharply the predestinated and unescapable 
 judgment of God, the certainty that every 
 thought, word and deed of each indi- 
 vidual, in every circumstance and relation 
 of life, will be subjected, at the day of final 
 accounting, to the scrutiny of a justice om- 
 niscient, impersonal, impartial, and inflexi- 
 ble, to be followed by a sentence positively 
 righteous and irrevocable. 
 
 Concise expression to these views of 
 responsibility is given in our Saviour's 
 words, setting human duty clearly in the 
 
XLbc ipresb^terian System* 
 
 light of the divine sovereignty : ^' The 
 Lord our God is one Lord : and thou shalt 
 love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
 and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
 mind, and with all thy strength : this is 
 the first commandment. And the second 
 is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy 
 neighbor as thyself."* ''But I say unta 
 you, That every idle word that men shall 
 speak, they shall give account thereof in 
 the day of judgment, "f True duty, both 
 Godward and manward, is rooted in and 
 controlled by the idea of the divine sover- 
 eignty, as it affects human responsibility. 
 
 Certain persons, connected with other 
 denominations, have alleged that the 
 Presbyterian system minifies human re- 
 sponsibility and makes of man a mere 
 machine. Such an allegation, deliber- 
 ately made, is a slander upon Presbyterians, 
 and is rooted in an utter misconception of 
 the nature of the system they maintain. 
 Calvinism, it is true, rightly magnifies the 
 divine sovereignty, but in so doing it also 
 magnifies both man and duty. Every^ 
 
 * Mark xii. 29-31 . f Matt. xii. 36. 
 
 26 
 
^be Presbyterian System. 
 
 thought which enlarges and makes more 
 impressive the idea of the sovereignty of 
 God, has like effect in relation to the con- 
 ceptions of man and of obligation. The 
 more clearly God is perceived and ac- 
 knowledged as sovereign, the more sharply 
 are the facts apprehended and applied, 
 that man is a predestinated free agent, 
 that right conduct is a divine and perpet- 
 ual obligation, that responsibility is a thing 
 foreordained, that the judgment of God is 
 inevitable, and that freedom from con- 
 demnation is secured only through Christ. 
 God's sovereignty, God's law, God's jus- 
 tice, in combination with human freedom, 
 make Presbyterian views of duty a moral 
 force both stern and mighty. 
 
 Loyal to the conception of the sover- 
 eignty over human life of the law of God, 
 Calvinists have carried that law into 
 practical operation in conduct, beyond 
 every other class of Christians. The word 
 *' Puritan," standing as it does for Calvin- 
 istic morality, is sufficient evidence of this 
 fact, in relation to private life, without 
 quoting other and extended proofs. Not 
 27 
 
XLbe ipresb^terian System* 
 
 only in private, however, but also in pub- 
 lic life, has Calvinism been an intense 
 moral force. The general influence of 
 Presbyterianism, that foremost English- 
 man, Wm. E. Gladstone, describes as 
 securing for men, *' the advantages which 
 in civil order belong to local self-govern- 
 ment and representative institutions, order- 
 ly habits of mind, respect for adversaries 
 and some of the elements of the judicial 
 temper; the development of a genuine 
 individuality, together with the discourage- 
 ment of mere arbitrary will and of all 
 eccentric tendencies; the sense of com- 
 mon life and the disposition energetically 
 to defend it ; the love of law, combined 
 with the love of freedom. ' ' True Calvin- 
 ism has been and is a most potent source 
 of good to both the individual and the 
 State, in the one of right conduct, and in 
 the other of social order. Its choicest 
 products are the God-fearing believer 
 and the law-abiding citizen. Faith in 
 Christ and obedience to God work ever 
 obedience to law. 
 
 3. Worship. Worship necessarily occu- 
 
Zbc ipresb^terian System* 
 
 pies a prominent position in the Chris- 
 tian Church, as to persons, places, times 
 and forms. Worship may be defined as 
 the aspiration of the soul of man towards 
 God, in the name of Christ, adoring the 
 divine perfections, magnifying the divine 
 goodnesSj and supplicating the divine 
 blessing, in the forgiveness of sin and the 
 bestowal of the divine favor. To many 
 persons, worship constitutes the very 
 essence of religion, and in no other 
 department of religion have men attempted 
 to interfere with the divine sovereignty 
 more persistently and audaciously. 
 
 The main doctrines of the Presbyterian 
 
 Standards with reference to worship are : 
 
 That God only is to be worshioed : that 
 
 he is to 'ue ^^PL'^oinped through Jesus 
 
 Christ alone ; that worship to be accepted 
 
 of God must be offered in spirit and in 
 
 truth, by the help of the Holy Ghost ; that 
 
 only in true worship can sin be forgiven or 
 
 the divine favor be secured ; that no part 
 
 of religious worship is under the gospel 
 
 ''tied unto" anyplace; that God hath 
 
 appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath, 
 
 29 
 
^be IPresbgterian System* 
 
 to be kept holy unto him ; and that the 
 general manner of worship has been set 
 forth in the word of God. In these doc- 
 trines, as in other doctrines dealt with in 
 the Standards, the controlling idea is that 
 of the divine sovereignty. Because God 
 is sovereign, therefore it follows that all 
 idolatry is utterly forbidden ; that worship 
 is to be offered, not through human or 
 angelic mediators, but through Jesus Christ 
 as the sole mediator and only priest ; that 
 ministers are never priests, but simply 
 leaders in worship ; that neither man nor 
 angel can forgive sins and bestow grace 
 and favor, but God alone ; that true wor- 
 ship can be offered anywhere, for the road 
 to the divine favor starts from the penitent 
 neart and believing soul, not froin Gerizim 
 or from Jerusalem ; that the law of the 
 Sabbath as a day for worship is of perpet- 
 ual obligation ; that only those ordinances 
 and forms are of authority in worship 
 which are indicated in the word of God ; 
 that worship is to be offered not only in 
 private, but also in stated public assemblies; 
 that the ordinances and forms of religion are 
 30 
 
^be iPresbigterian System* 
 
 simply means to the great ends of growth 
 in the divine life, and fellowship with 
 God; and that even the sacraments of 
 Christ's appointment, precious as they are 
 to the believer, though the culmination of 
 divine worship, the veritable contact of 
 the soul with Christ, yet have in them- 
 selves no efficacy, but are made efficacious 
 only through the blessing of the triune God. 
 Concisely stated, in another manner, 
 the Presbyterian system in its principles of 
 worship may be set forth thus : No object 
 of worship except God ; no priest other 
 than.Christj no forgiveness except" for the 
 truly penitent ; no obstacle to the divint 
 favor other than unbelief; no worship ex- 
 cept in spirit and in truth ; no forms other 
 than those prescribed in Scripture. Sweep- 
 ing away all mere human expedients, Cal- 
 vinism places the hand of the believing 
 worshiper in the hand of Christ, and brings 
 him face to face with the everlasting 
 Father, to hear, for the sake of Christ, the 
 satisfying and reconciling words: "Son, 
 daughter, thy sin is forgiven thee ; go in 
 peace." 
 
Zbc IPresbgterian System. 
 
 The great principles, just stated, have 
 resulted in those plain and simple forms of 
 worship which have been a part of the tes- 
 timony and the glory of the Presbyterian 
 churches for many generations. As against 
 Romanists and Ritualists, Presbyterians 
 insist that the worship of saints and angels 
 is an assault upon the glory of God, that 
 priests are usurpers of the power of Christ, 
 that obligatory liturgies are unwarranted in 
 the Scriptures, and a hindrance to true 
 worship. Believing absolutely in the di- 
 vine sovereignty, practically applying both 
 that doctrine and the" authcr j<-y- of uic 
 Scriptures to worship, the Presbyterian 
 churches have insisted always upon that 
 untrammeled liberty in worship which is 
 tlie direct outcome of the principles both 
 of the Old and the New Testaments. The 
 God who is the author of all essential 
 Christian doctrine, is the God who invites 
 to prayer and supplication every soul of 
 man. The way to God has been obstructed, 
 however, in the past, by many a barrier of 
 human contrivance, and Calvinists have 
 striven with might and main, through trial. 
 
^be ipresbsterian System, 
 
 misrepresentation, wounds and death, to 
 keep unbarred by man the way of access to 
 the throne of the heavenly grace. May 
 the Calvinists of to-day unite with those of 
 the past, in steadfast maintenance of the 
 liberty in worship wherewith Christ hath 
 made men free ! 
 
 4. Government. Church government is 
 not in its essential features a matter of 
 human expediency. The Church was es- 
 tablished of God in the earth for the pres- 
 ervation, maintenance and dissemination 
 of his truth, and is both the pillar and the 
 ground of that truth. Originating in a di- 
 vine warrant, the nature of the Church and 
 its general features are clearly indicated in 
 the word of God. 
 
 The principal doctrines the Presbyterian 
 system teaches in relation to the Church 
 and its form of government are those of 
 the headship of Christ ; of the union of all 
 true believers to Christ as their Head j of 
 the appointment by Christ of a government 
 in his Church ; of the right of all believers 
 as members of Christ's body to participa- 
 tion in church affairs \ of the authority of 
 33 
 
Zbc iPresb^terian System, 
 
 the Church to discipline offenders and ad- 
 minister government ; of the right of Chris- 
 tians to voluntarily associate together in 
 denominations, and to prescribe terms of 
 communion ; and of the unity and inde- 
 pendence of the Church. The divine sov- 
 ereignty determines both the order and 
 form of statement, likewise, of these doc- 
 trines. Because God is sovereign, there- 
 fore is Christ the only Head of the Church, 
 and therefore, also, it follows, that all who 
 are united to him, are members of the 
 ideal Church invisible, existing in heaven 
 and on earth, composed of all the elect ; 
 that all persons who profess the true reli- 
 gion are members of the visible and univer- 
 sal Church on earth ; that all church power 
 is ministerial and declarative, ministerial 
 as the Church acts for Christ, declarative 
 as it interprets the law of Christ contained 
 in Scripture ; that the terms of admission 
 to the Church are to be such only as Scrip- 
 ture prescribes ; that only such permanent 
 officers are to be appointed in the Church 
 as the word of God requires ; that minis- 
 ters, as the representatives of Christ, are 
 
^bc ipresb^terian System. 
 
 brethren one of another ; that the people 
 of Christ are entitled to participation in 
 the government of the Church ; that the 
 Church possesses the power to exclude 
 offenders, and to regulate the conduct of 
 her members ; that the Church, being com- 
 posed, not of disconnected and inde- 
 pendent units, but of units so related to 
 each other that they are parts of a great 
 whole, veritable members of one body, has 
 the right to regulate and supervise all its 
 parts, whether they be church-members or 
 particular congregations; that denomina- 
 tions are in harmony with both the Scrip- 
 ture and the true unity of the Church, each 
 fulfilling its own God-given mission ; and, 
 finally, that the State has no power over 
 the Church. 
 
 These principles, as applied in the Pres- 
 byterian system, result in the production 
 of a Church organization whose main fea- 
 tures are the following: Jesus Christ the 
 only head of the Church ; ministers peers 
 one of another ; authority always positively 
 vested, not in individuals, such as bishops, 
 but in representative courts ; the affairs of 
 
 35 
 
XTbe ipreebsterian System, 
 
 local congregations administered jointly by- 
 pastors and by officers chosen by the people, 
 called ruling elders and deacons ; the gen- 
 eral interests of the Church controlled by 
 representative bodies, viz.: presbyteries, 
 synods and general assemblies ; the law of 
 Christ contained in the Scripture acknowl- 
 edged as the law of the Church ; the terms 
 of admission identical with the terms of 
 salvation ; discipline exercised only for 
 offenses directly against or clearly inferred 
 from the word of God ; all denominations 
 holding the essentials of the Christian reli- 
 gion recognized as churches of Christ ; and 
 the ideal ecclesiastical organization a free 
 Church in a free State. 
 
 Put in negative form, these features may 
 be stated as follows : No other head of the 
 Church than Christ ; no monopoly of au- 
 thority by ministers; no government by 
 prelates ; no source of law other than the 
 Bible ; no denial of popular right ; no bar 
 to church membership other than unbelief; 
 no exclusion except for offenses against 
 Scripture ; no adoption of general rules 
 without the cooperation of the whole body 
 36 
 
XLbc ipresb^terian System. 
 
 of associated churches ; no denial of Chris- 
 tian character to any persons who profess 
 the true Christian religion, and no inter- 
 ference by the State with the Church. 
 Thus is there, in relation to Christ, obedi- 
 ence; in connection with the ministry, 
 equality ; in regard to popular rights, due 
 recognition ; in legislation and discipline, 
 submission to divine law; in the manage- 
 ment of affairs, wisdom combined with 
 efficiency; in church fellowship, acknowl- 
 edgment of all believers as brethren ; and 
 in connection with the State, freedom. 
 
 The principles above outlined are the 
 basis for the conviction that the Presbyte- 
 rian government — on its divine side, the 
 kingdom of Christ ; on its human side, a 
 republic — is a governmsnt adapted to the 
 needs of man, and in full harmony with 
 the requirements of Holy Scripture. These 
 doctrines have influenced powerfully the 
 form of several of the leading Christian de- 
 nominations, have permeated modern so- 
 ciety, and have modified largely political 
 institutions in many lands. The bulwark 
 of civil and religious liberty in the past, it 
 
 37 
 
Zbc iPresbstedan Q^stcm* 
 
 is believed that they will determine the 
 form of that one Church of the future 
 which is the common hope of all Christian 
 believers. That Church, when it appears, 
 will maintain the parity of the ministry, 
 the equality of believers, the supremacy of 
 the Scriptures, and the sole headship of 
 Christ.- 
 
 The general value of the Presbyterian 
 system may be concisely stated thus : 
 
 In its theology it honors the divine sov- 
 ereignty without denying human freedom ; 
 in its views of human duty, while insisting 
 upon obedience to God, it emphasizes 
 human responsibility; in its worship, it 
 magnifies God while it brings blessing to 
 man, by maintaining the right of free 
 access on the part of every soul to him 
 whose grace cannot be fettered in its min- 
 istrations by any human ordinance what- 
 ever ; and in its government it exalts the 
 headship of Christ, while giving full 
 development to the activities of the Chris- 
 tian people. From its beginning to its 
 close the system acknowledges God as sov- 
 ereign, and in its every part is affirmed to 
 
Zbc iPresb^terian System* 
 
 be in harmony with the teachings of God's 
 word. Its twin symbols are ** An open 
 Bible" and '^Tlie Burning Bush," burn- 
 ing yet not consumed. 
 
 V. Zbc extent ot tbe autborits of the 
 Presbyterian system. The Presbyterian 
 Church adopted in 1729, the Westminster 
 Doctrinal Standards, and in 1788, the 
 entire Constitution, substantially as it now 
 exists. As a result of these acts of the 
 whole Church, while formal approval of 
 the Presbyterian system is not required of 
 church- members, it is none the less true 
 that the Standards are the regularly adopted 
 law of the Presbyterian Church both for 
 members and officers, the common rule 
 in theology, duty, worship and administra- 
 tion. Like the Constitution of the United 
 States, the Constitution of the Church is 
 the heritage, law and guide of all persons 
 within its jurisdiction. While the oath of 
 office is required only of officers, simply 
 because they are officers, the obligation of 
 obedience to the Constitution and con- 
 stitutional authority is binding upon all. 
 Further, the only authority which can 
 39 
 
Zbc ipresb^terian Si^stem* 
 
 change or modify in any particular these 
 Standards, is the authority by which they 
 were established. Individuals cannot in 
 the Church any more than in the State 
 change the terms of a law or laws at their 
 own will. The Presbyterian system is, 
 both in its doctrines and regulations, sub- 
 ject to change only by the Church. Again, 
 to the Church belongs not only the right 
 of modification, but also the right of inter- 
 pretation. Members and officers of a 
 denomination cannot read into any por- 
 tion of its Constitution their own opinions. 
 In the civil sphere of action the interpreta- 
 tion of law belongs to courts of civil law, 
 and similarly in all Christian churches 
 the interpretation of denominational law 
 is vested in denominational authorities. 
 Both as to the modification and interpre- 
 tation of the Constitution, the authority of 
 the Presbyterian Church in its courts is 
 unique and absolute. 
 
 The relation of ministers, ruling elders 
 and deacons to the Presbyterian system 
 is fixed legally by the Church in its Stan- 
 dards. Prior to induction into office. 
 
Zbc Presbyterian System, 
 
 these officers are under the control of that 
 Constitution which at ordination they 
 formally and officially accept. The formu- 
 las of subscription contained in the Form 
 of Government are not, when answered 
 affirmatively by church officers, an original 
 acceptance of the Presbyterian system, but 
 an official pledge of loyalty to that system 
 as the law of the Church. Further, the 
 terms and conditions of the acceptance of 
 office have been of right formulated by 
 the Church. The Adopting Act of 1729 
 prescribed that Presbyteries should not 
 receive any candidate or minister into fel- 
 lowship, " but what declared his agreement 
 in opinion with all the essential and nec- 
 essary articles of said Confession and 
 Catechisms;" and also enacted that every 
 minister or candidate having scruples with 
 respect to *'any article or articles," 
 whether essential or non-essential to the 
 system, should at the time of his making 
 the declaration above referred to, also 
 *' declare his sentiments to the Presbytery. ' ' 
 In addition, the act made the presbytery 
 the judge, whether the scruple or mistake 
 41 
 
XTbe ipresb^terian System* 
 
 of an applicant for reception was about 
 articles *^not essential and necessary in 
 doctrine, worship or government." This 
 act of 1729 is substantially repeated in the 
 subscription pledges for officers, found in 
 the Form of Government. A principle 
 was thus established, and has been main- 
 tained both by usage and law, which 
 requires every candidate, minister or 
 church-officer, who differs at any point 
 from the Presbyterian system, at ordina- 
 tion or reception, to declare his sentiments 
 to the presbytery under whose jurisdiction 
 he will or may be, and vests the power of 
 interpretation as to doctrine and usage in 
 the presbytery, subject to appeal to the 
 higher courts. The right of the Church 
 to determine the qualifications of candi- 
 dates for office and to require pledges of 
 faithfulness is at once constitutional, natu- 
 ral and undebatable. 
 
 The formal adoption of the Presbyterian 
 system by the Presbyterian Church, in- 
 volves also that the fundamentals of the 
 system cannot rightfully be changed. 
 Where such fundamental principles are 
 42 
 
tTbe Presbyterian System. 
 
 not involved, submission to the will of 
 the majority is the American rule in the 
 Church as well as in the State. Even 
 majorities, however, are powerless lawfully 
 to change the great features of the Presby- 
 terian system. While non-essential matters 
 in worship, and in polity, while forms of 
 statement of doctrine, are subject to the 
 will of constitutional majorities, the essen- 
 tial and necessary doctrines, whether of 
 faith, worship or government, are not thus 
 subject. The revision of the Presbyterian 
 Standards is permissible along non-essen- 
 tial lines, by new forms of doctrinal state- 
 ment, by the elimination of features unes- 
 sential to the system, by the adding of new 
 chapters for the fuller exhibition of old 
 truths, or the alteration of administrative 
 regulations. In such lines as these, altera- 
 tions or amendments are always in order 
 when they are properly introduced and 
 carried in a constitutional manner. But 
 the great doctrines and essential features 
 of the system cannot be eliminated from 
 the Standards, or suppressed, or aban- 
 doned. The Constitution of the Presby- 
 
 43 
 
Ebe ipresb^terian System. 
 
 terian Church cannot be so revised as to 
 episcopize its polity, romanize its worship, 
 decalvinize its theology, deny the co-equal 
 deity of our blessed Lord, nullify his 
 atonement for sin by making the death 
 upon the cross some other thing than a 
 vicarious sacrifice, maintain the justifica- 
 tion of the believer on any other ground 
 than faith, declare the certain salvation of 
 the non-elect and unbelieving, or take any 
 other organizing principle than that of the 
 supremacy of the divine word. By origi- 
 nal organization, by the Adopting Act of 
 1729, by reunion twice consummated, first 
 in 1758, and second in 1869; by its Con- 
 stitution, by civil charters as well as by 
 ecclesiastical acts, the Presbyterian Church 
 is a non-episcopal, non-priestly, democra- 
 tic, Calvinistic and Protestant Church of 
 Christ, and such it must remain. To change 
 these fundamentals would be revolution. 
 
 VI. ^be obligation involved. The 
 Presbyterian Church having permanently 
 adopted the Presbyterian system, the 
 common duty of Presbyterians can be 
 stated in one word, the word * 'loyalty. " 
 
tCbe ipreebvterian System, 
 
 Church officers and church-members are 
 to hold fast those fundamental forms of 
 sound words which are their law. The 
 Presbyterian system is one which has been 
 accepted and adopted with the understand- 
 ing that acceptance implies loyalty. No 
 man would endeavor, in this present age, 
 to encroach upon that right of private 
 judgment, which is the indefeasible pre- 
 rogative of every person. Encroachment, 
 however, upon the right of private judg- 
 ment is one thing, and self-limitation of 
 that right by voluntary adherence to the 
 Standards of a denomination is quite an- 
 other. No man can compel another to 
 enter any religious denomination, or 
 to accept office therein ; but men do 
 constantly enter into engagements which 
 involve the limitation of the rights of 
 the individual by the regulations of 
 a denomination. The natural right of 
 man to liberty, for instance, is conceded 
 as a theory in civil affairs, but our 
 organized social system, of necessity, limits 
 this right to a considerable extent. What 
 is true in the State is truer in the Church. 
 
 45 
 
^be ipresb^terian System. 
 
 Civil allegiance in this free republic is 
 obligatory, whether he will or no, upon 
 every citizen. The great majority of 
 American citizens have become such invol- 
 untarily, having been born into the nation. 
 In a denominational church, however, 
 both membership and office are things vol- 
 untary. It is by a voluntary act that mem- 
 bership in the Presbyterian Church is 
 accepted by all who are in its communion. 
 It is by a like voluntary act that deacons, 
 ruling elders and ministers accept office 
 within the denomination. The State holds 
 men to allegiance, as has been said, 
 whether they will or no. The Church, it 
 would appear, has a yet greater claim upon 
 its members and officers for loyalty to its 
 Standards and its policy than has the State. 
 Voluntary acts constitute a basis for the 
 obligation to loyalty, which cannot be 
 thrust aside by any plea whatsoever. 
 
 This loyalty, further, should be and is 
 an intelligent loyalty. The charge is often 
 made that those who accept the Presbyte- 
 rian system do so, simply because they 
 have been instructed therein in childhood. 
 46 
 
^be Presbyterian System, 
 
 It is alleged that they have made for them- 
 selves no thorough investigation of its es- 
 sential principles, but have simply accepted 
 as proven the results of the thought and 
 effort of past generations. Such a charge 
 is untrue to the facts in the case, and un- 
 worthy of this investigating age and fair- 
 minded men. While it is true that the 
 past influences the present, the influence of 
 the past upon the present is far too much 
 overrated. The men of this restless time 
 are not like books printed during the Puri- 
 tan era, and placed upon a shelf to grow 
 yellow with age and dark with the dust of 
 two centuries. Every human generation 
 is new as the grass in springtime. It has 
 its own life, its own environment, its own 
 development. The men of every genera- 
 tion as they grow in years, while thankful 
 for the instruction given by the past, look 
 with open and intelligent eyes at the uni- 
 verse, and all that it contains, and seek for 
 themselves a solution of its mysteries. 
 And those who maintain in this day the 
 great truths of the Presbyterian system, 
 have attained " to their convictions, not 
 
Zbc ipresb^terian System. 
 
 alone by the influence of the past, but also, 
 as a rule, by personal examination into 
 the great questions of theology, duty, 
 worship and administration. After due 
 thought, with clear apprehension of the 
 limitations from the side both of the di- 
 vine word and of human nature, which are 
 ever upon men, the great majority of Cal- 
 vinists have reached the conclusions which 
 they hold, not because Calvinism is old, 
 but because Calvinism is everlastingly true. 
 Their eyes are not blinded any more than 
 were the eyes of the fathers. They do not 
 even wear their grandfathers' spectacles. 
 They hold fast the great doctrines which 
 are contained within the Standards of the 
 Church, because they have thought them- 
 selves through to them, as being the system 
 of truth contained in the Holy Scriptures. 
 Theirs is that intelligent apprehension of 
 truth which is a firm basis for loyal adher- 
 ence to a great system of faith and practice. 
 But denominational loyalty should in- 
 clude within its compass something more 
 than the denominational creed, worship 
 and polity. These things are valuable, in 
 48 
 
Zbc jpreeDisterian S^etcm. 
 
 proportion to the extent in which they find 
 expression in denominational work. Just 
 as faith finds evidence in works, so loyalty 
 approves itself by deeds. As a denomina- 
 tion the Presbyterian Church is greatly 
 privileged in many ways. It has estab- 
 lished many agencies for the maintenance 
 and extension of Christ's kingdom. It is 
 strong in its Scriptural creed and its popu- 
 lar sympathies j strong also in its relation 
 to the history and development of the land 
 in which God has placed it ; strong, in ad- 
 dition, in its hold upon the influential ele- 
 ments in the diverse population of this re- 
 public ; strong, further, in numbers and in 
 the material, intellectual and moral re- 
 sources under its control. It possesses 
 kingly principles, historic prestige, far- 
 reaching influence, multiplied resources. 
 Thus equipped of God, it finds before it, 
 as a Church, work of imperial proportions ; 
 work not only in foreign lands, but more 
 especially in this land. For the Presbyte- 
 rian Church, America is but another name 
 for opportunity, and if it would rise to the 
 level of its providential privileges, then, 
 
 49 
 
^be Presbyterian System. 
 
 with all charity towards other denomina- 
 tions of Christians, it should devote its 
 great resources, both of men . and means, 
 in the wide dissemination of the truths 
 which it maintains, for the largest possible 
 development of its own institutions. Loy- 
 alty to the Presbyterian system involves 
 loyalty to its widespread agencies ; demands 
 a persistent, resolute, aggressive movement 
 for the meeting in full, along denomina- 
 tional lines, of denominational responsi- 
 bilities. It is along these lines that the 
 Presbyterian Church will vindicate to the 
 world its right to exist as a Church, that it 
 will evidence clearly that it has a mission 
 in the earth, that it will rise to the full 
 height both of opportunity and responsi- 
 bility, that it will effectively aid in the ex- 
 tension and final victory of the Redeemer's 
 kingdom. As a rule, it is true that he is 
 the best Christian, the truest to Christ, 
 who is most loyal to the church in which 
 he finds himself, by choice and by the op- 
 eration of Divine Providence. What is 
 true of the individual is peculiarly true of 
 the Christian churches. That denomina- 
 
tibe Presbyterian System. 
 
 tion is truest to its God-given mission, to 
 the great Christian brotherhood, to the 
 supreme Head of the Church, which is 
 true to its own nature, true to its peculiar 
 principles, and which refuses, with David, 
 to do God's work clad in Saul's armor. 
 The Presbyterian Church, by being true to 
 itself, will be true to Christ. 
 
 Thought of Christ suggests instinctively 
 that he is the source of all power. Filled, 
 then, with his Spirit, may his disciples 
 everywhere live and labor, strong in the 
 conviction that if theirs be a true and liv- 
 ing faith, then their every effort to serve 
 him shall be crowned with success, not 
 because of what they are, but because his 
 is ''the kingdom, the power and the 
 glory." 
 
Date Due 
 
 
 
 
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