j PMSByTERlMISM:^- 
 
 I PriiiG iples and Practice 
 
 S:L. Morris 
 
Q09 *) 
 
 BX 9175 .M62 1922 
 
 
 Morris, Samuel Leslie, 
 
 1854- 
 
 1937. 
 
 
 Presbyterianism 
 
 
Presbyterianism 
 
 Its Principles and Practice 
 
 By 
 S. L. Morris, D. D., LL. D. 
 
 Executive Secretary of Home Missions, 
 
 Presbyterian Church in the 
 
 United States 
 
 Author of 
 "At Our Own Door" 
 
 "The Task That Challenges" 
 
 and 
 'Christianizing Christendom" 
 
 "Hold fast the form of sound words." 2 Tim. i : 13. 
 "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman 
 that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word 
 of Truth." 2 Tim. 2:15. 
 
 "Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered 
 unto the saints." Jude 3. 
 
 1922 
 
 Presbyterian Committee of Publication 
 Richmond, Va., Texarkana, Ark.-Tex. 
 
Copyright 1922 
 
 BY 
 
 Presbyterian Committee of Publication 
 Richmond, Va. 
 
 printed in u. s. a. 
 
 BY 
 WHITTET & SHEPPERSON, RICHMOND, VA. 
 
Contents; 
 
 I. PRESBYTERIANISM — ^A SYSTEM 1 
 
 II. PRESBYTERIANISM IN HiSTORY 19 
 
 III. PRESBYTERIANISM AND CALVINISM 42 
 
 IV. PRESBYTERIANISM AND ChURCH PolITY 58 
 
 v. presbyterianism and the sacraments 77 
 
 (The Lord's Supper.) 
 
 VI. PRESBYTERIANISM AND THE SaCRAMENTS 87 
 
 (Baptism.) 
 
 vii. presbyterianism and the covenant 102 
 
 (Infant Church Membership.) 
 
 viii. presbyterianism in action 118 
 
 ix. presbyterianism and catholicity 140 
 
 x. presbyterianism and missions 150 
 
preface 
 
 THE purpose of this study of the distinctive principles of 
 Presbyterianism is not controversial but undeniably apolo- 
 getic. It is not in any sense an attack upon systems which 
 differ from the Presbyterian, but it is an avowed defense of the 
 latter. In this strenuous age which tolerates only short sermons, 
 necessarily devoted almost exclusively to Evangelism and Mis- 
 sions, there is neither time, patience nor opportunity for instruction 
 in the doctrinal principles, which are the fundamental basis of 
 faith, and which contribute materially to the development of intel- 
 ligent Christian character. As a consequence a generation of 
 Presbyterians has arisen which knows not Calvinistic theology and 
 Presbyterian polity. Sentimentalism and indifference to truth are 
 calculated to produce moral flabbiness instead of the rugged char- 
 acters of our forefathers who bequeathed to posterity civil and 
 religious liberty by their moral heroism and sacrificial service. 
 
 As an illustration, one of our greatest city churches, having an 
 official body of elders and deacons numbering about thirty, asked 
 their pastor to organize them into a class for studying the princi- 
 ples of their Church. At the first meeting the pastor asked the 
 significance of the word "Presbyterian." Not a man in the num- 
 ber could answer. This case is not unique, but the normal type 
 of the average body of Presbyterian officers. . 
 
 The object of this treatise on Presbyterianism is to meet the de- 
 mands of the Church for doctrinal instruction. The difficulty in 
 the preparation of a suitable Text-book for denominational classes 
 is to avoid the merely technical and make it popular enough to 
 interest thoughtful young people and the average layman, and at 
 the same time to give it sufficient scholarship to stand the test of 
 
criticism. The task is so difficult that it may fail to satisfy either 
 the layman or the scholar. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church has no denominational "Shibboleth" 
 with which to rally the masses, — which is both an advantage and a 
 disadvantage. The advantage gained is that it prevents Presby- 
 terianism from being narrow and sectarian, but it is at a distinct 
 disadvantage in contending with the bigot characterized by intense 
 sectarian propaganda and proverbial zeal. The task of Presby- 
 terianism is to produce a loyal, intelligent membership, stalwart in 
 faith and character, yet liberal towards all evangelical denomina- 
 tions. This attempt to accomplish the impossible is measurably 
 successful in cultivating catholicity on the one hand and denomina- 
 tional loyalty on the other. 
 
 This discussion of Presbyterian principles and practice is in- 
 tended as a contribution to the cause of that type of Christianity 
 which knows its fundamental faiths and joins heart and hand with 
 all God's hosts in the advancement of the common kingdom, hav- 
 ing "one Lord, one faith and one baptism." The writer during 
 his pastorate sufiFered for lack of such a treatise, which could be 
 put into the hands of an inquirer willing to investigate truth for 
 himself at the cost of time and thought. The author's purpose 
 is not only to meet this long-felt want on the part of pastors, but 
 also to furnish a Text-book, 'which can be used by our ministry in 
 classes of young people, training for intelligent leadership, by 
 Bible Classes in our Sabbath Schools seeking instruction in the 
 principles of their Church, and by laymen who are dissatisfied 
 with their lack of information and are ambitious to be "workmen 
 that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 
 In some cases Mission Study Classes might be willing to examine 
 the fundamental principles. of a Church, which by its intelligent 
 zeal has led all denominations in the great field of missionary 
 activities. 
 
 Ti 
 
To meet the need of the denomination, in educating its membet - 
 ship for loyal service in the cause of Christ and His Kingdom, is 
 surely a worthy ambition justifying the purpose of this study. 
 Such has been the thought of the author in its production, which 
 he now sends out on its mission with the sincere prayer that it 
 may educate, stimulate and develop the spiritual life oi the Church, 
 which will bring forth the fruit, in future generations, of more 
 intelligent and consecrated leadership of the Lord's militant hosts. 
 
 Samuel Leslie Morris. 
 
 Atlanta, Ga. 
 
 vil 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 Truth is ever consistent with itself. Given a few fundamental 
 principles and they necessitate certain other kindred truths form- 
 ing a complete system. As in a well-articulated fabric of network 
 each separate stitch binds the constituent parts — or unravels the 
 whole — so the web of divine truth is woven like the robe of the 
 Master, without seam throughout. This is alike true in the realm 
 of Nature, in the domain of Philosophy and in the sphere of 
 Religion. 
 
 Basic Principle. 
 
 The Natural Sciences are based largely upon this principle. 
 By virtue of this fact the comparative anatomist can reconstruct 
 the entire skeleton of an extinct animal from the merest fragment 
 of a bone. The records of science furnish well-authenticated cases 
 where such men as Professors Owen, Kaup and Cuvier, from 
 fragments of bone or tooth, have restored the entire skeleton of 
 prehistoric species, and subsequent discoveries have corroborated 
 the correctness of their conclusions. Systems of philosophy are 
 likewise held together by kindred and consistent principles. 
 
 In keeping with this same principle Calvinism constitutes a well- 
 articulated system of truth, which not only hangs together by 
 virtue of its logical consistency, but involves the whole of Pres- 
 byterian conception of theology and life. The denial of scriptural 
 predestination, for example, consistently necessitates the rejection 
 of the sovereignty of God, divine foreknowledge, special providence, 
 limited atonement, human inability, the sole efficiency of the Spirit 
 in regeneration, and the final perseverance of the saints. One 
 stitch dropped from the web of divine truth rends it in twain, or 
 warps the whole, according to the bias of perverted human judg- 
 ment. William of Orange, the illustrious Calvinist, author of 
 religious liberty throughout the Anglo-Saxon world, according to 
 
Macaulay, declared that he could not abandon the doctrine of 
 predestination without abandoning with it all his belief in a 
 superintending providence and becoming a mere Epicurean. 
 
 The Presbyterian System. 
 
 While the Presbyterian form of Government is not a part of 
 the Calvinistic system of theology, yet the two are so closely 
 related that any hybrid alliance of Arminian theology and Pres- 
 byterian polity has never prospered but has eventually fallen apart 
 by reason of the fact that they constitute an unsympathettc and 
 illogical coalition. 
 
 The Presbyterian system, based on the infallible Word,, sus- 
 tained by its irresistible logic and reinforced by its inherent 
 philosophy, — as expounded and defended In this treatise, — is taken 
 in its broadest sense, as embracing both Calvinistic theology and 
 Presbyterian polity with all the kindred and distinctive principles 
 involved. No claim will be advanced that Presbyterianism, as 
 thus defined. Is essential to the existence of the Church — much 
 less as necessary to salvation — but It will be advocated as the 
 most scriptural of all Biblical systems and, therefore, fundamental 
 to the well-being of the Church. The things essential to salva- 
 tion are common to all evangelical branches of the Church; and 
 certain of the distinctive elements of the Presbyterian system 
 are shared also by various religious bodies in one way or another. 
 
 Distinctive Principles. 
 
 The purpose of this preliminary chapter Is to outline briefly the 
 general and distinctive principles of Presbyterianism, which will be 
 enlarged, illustrated and re-enforced by appeals to the Word of 
 God In subsequent chapters. Passing by those vital principles 
 held in common with other denominations, such as Inspiration of 
 the Scriptures, the Deity of Christ, the Atonement, Justification 
 by Faith, the Necessity of Regeneration, etc., this inquiry will be 
 confined to the four essentials of Presbyterianism : 
 
 2 
 
I. 
 
 The Word of God as contained in the Scriptures of the 
 Old and New Testaments is the only infallible rule 
 of Faith and Practice. 
 
 Presbyterianism bases its claims entirely upon the Word of 
 God. Nothing else is accepted as authority ; and arguments based 
 upon history, reason or philosophy may be cited as additional 
 testimony, but they are not the final nor forceful appeal. The state- 
 ment of this first principle will inevitably be challenged and met 
 by the assertion that all denominations advance the same claim for 
 the scripturalness of their respective systems ; and yet, in the prac- 
 tical application of the principle, there is a vast and important 
 difference. 
 
 Variations Illustrated. 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church bases its claim upon the Scriptures, 
 but not exclusively. It places the Church and even traditions on 
 equal footing with the Word. Recently the writer and a Romish 
 priest were drawn into an argument as to the ultimate authority in 
 religion, and when the former quoted Scripture, the priest appealed 
 to the Church as the authority that producd the Scriptures, and 
 that determined the canon of Scriptures, and, therefore, as the 
 supreme authority. This fact, therefore, sets aside its claims as 
 being based solely on the Word of God. 
 
 The Rationalist and others profess to accept the Scriptures as 
 authority, but when confronted with the scriptural doctrines of the 
 Sovereignty of God and the free-agency of man, they reject the 
 former on the ground that the two are in their judgment contra- 
 dictory in the sphere of reason. This is equivalent to setting up 
 their finite human judgment, perverted by sin, as of higher 
 authority than the Bible. There is beyond all question a legiti- 
 mate place for reason in enabling us to understand and interpret 
 divine Revelation. The Scriptures appeal always to reason and 
 never ask us to accept anything which is inconsistent with it ; but 
 there are mysteries, — "the deep things of God," — ^beyond the 
 power of human comprehension to grasp fully in our present 
 
limited understanding. Such must be accepted by faith in the 
 spirit of the Apostle, who exclaimed : "O the depth of the riches 
 both of the wisdom and knowledge of God !" If every man 
 were at liberty to accept only that part of revealed truth which 
 appeals to his judgment, there would be no uniform standard. 
 It would be as variable as individual thought. Presbyter ianism, 
 therefore, while recognizing the value and function of human 
 reason in ascertaining "the mind of the Spirit," makes, it bow to 
 the authority of God's Word as supreme. 
 
 Speaking for another large denomination of Christians, Dr. 
 Wayland says : "The New Testament, the whole New Testament 
 and nothing but the New Testament is our religion." This sets 
 aside practically the entire Old Testament — as if the New Tes- 
 tament were a complete substitution for it, instead of a supplement. 
 The butterfly is not a diflferent creature from the caterpillar, but 
 is the same creature with wings. In like manner the Old Tes- 
 tament is the same body of Truth more perfectly developed in the 
 New. As one has strikingly said : "The New Testament is con- 
 cealed in the Old ; the Old Testament is revealed in the New." 
 Instead of accepting a part of the Word as authority, Presby- 
 terianism says: "The Bible, the whole Bible and nothing but the 
 Bible is our authority." 
 
 Still one more important diflference exists in the use of Scrip- 
 ture as the basis of truth. Some earnest Christian people appeal 
 to isolated texts and build their systems upon scriptural quotations 
 scattered at random throughout the Word, Anything can be 
 proved from Scripture by this method — which accounts for the 
 variety of sects that claim scriptural foundation. Presbyterianism 
 insists that its system consists of fundamental principles which are 
 embodied in the Word of God "from Genesis to Revelation," and 
 are so interwoven throughout the whole fabric that they cannot be 
 set aside without destroying the Bible itself. 
 
 This contention is of sufficient importance to justify an illustra- 
 tion as a specimen: The form of goA^ernment by "Elders" runs 
 through the whole Bible. The "Elders" come to view in the book 
 of Genesis, which can be verified by any concordance. In Exodus 
 18:25 and 24:9; and again in Numbers 11, 16-30, a selection 
 
of "seventy" Elders from the total number is the foundation 
 of the Sanhedrim, the highest church court of the Old Tes- 
 tament. In the New Testament, it is said, "They ordained them 
 elders in every church." Then again in Revelation, which closed 
 the canon of Scripture, John looked through the open door in 
 heaven and saw, "Round about the throne four and twenty seats ; 
 and upon the seats four and twenty elders sitting clothed in white 
 raiment, and they had on their heads crowns of gold." So after 
 the manner of this illustration the Presbyterian system bases itself 
 not simply on isolated texts of Scripture, but is traced throughout 
 the Word of God, and belongs to every dispensation of the 
 Church. 
 
 Presbyterianism never once asks. What saith "antiquity" ; what 
 saith "tradition"; what saith aesthetic "culture"; or what saith 
 "historic" practice ; but its sole inquiry is, what "saith the Lord ?" 
 It institutes no new methods, tolerates no improvement on God's 
 ordained means, and attempts no changing of the machinery to 
 suit the times. Its appeal is solely "to the law and to the testi- 
 mony." Where God speaks, it speaks; where God is silent, it is 
 silent. It bows to God's Word as the sole authority, and it bows 
 to nothing else. 
 
 II. ^ 
 
 Its System of Theology known as Calvinism exalts the 
 Sovereignty of God and emphasizes the Free- 
 Agency of Man. 
 
 Calvinism places God on the throne of the universe as supreme 
 Ruler in heaven and on earth, guiding the. worlds in their orbits 
 and equally the mote that floats in the sunbeam, and as "fore- 
 ordaining for his own glory whatsoever cometh to pass." From 
 the dozens of scriptural texts supporting this statement space 
 permits only one as a specimen : 
 
 "And we know that all things work together for good to them 
 that love God, to them who are the called according to His pur- 
 pose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to 
 be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the 
 
firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did pre- 
 destinate, them He also called, and whom He called, them He 
 also justified ; and whom He justified them He also glorified." 
 (Romans 8:28-30.) 
 
 For those who accept implicitly the statements of Scripture 
 this is sufficient. If it does not carry conviction, it would be 
 unavailing to cite the hundreds of other proof texts equally per- 
 tinent and forceful. 
 
 Scope. 
 
 Calvinism is not simply a system of theology based upon 
 divine revelation, but it is as well a philosophy, which is the only 
 adequate solution of the universe, and the only intelligent interpre- 
 tation of providence. Predestination is the expression of the 
 purpose which in eternity past planned the imiverse according to 
 divine wisdom. Providence is the unfolding of the plan in the 
 execution of that eternal purpose. William of Orange asserted 
 that he believed in predestination, because he could not worship a 
 God who created a universe without a plan and governed without 
 a prearranged purpose. Many who reject the name unwittingly 
 accept the fact, as may be seen by the following conversation be- 
 tween a Presbyterian minister and an Arminian lady : 
 
 Lady: "Do you believe in the doctrine of Predestination?" 
 
 Minister: "Certainly, and so do you." , , 
 
 Lady: "Indeed, I do not." 
 
 Minister : "Do you believe in the necessity of being born 
 again ?" 
 
 Lady : "Most assuredly." 
 
 Minister: "Who is the author of the new birth?" 
 
 Lady : "Why, God of course." 
 
 Minister: "Do you think God regenerates a soul without a 
 previous purpose or without an intention to regenerate?" 
 
 Lady: "Why, certainly not." 
 
 Minister: "Well, does it make any material difference whether 
 God formed that purpose to regenerate your soul ten minutes 
 beforehand or ten million years previous to the event?" 
 
 Lady: "I suppose not." 
 
Minister : "Very well ; that previous purpose to regenerate 
 your soul is what in Scripture is denominated predestination." 
 Lady : "Well, I never understood it before." 
 
 Sovereignty vs. Free-Agency. 
 
 Predestination is the truth viewed from the divine standpoint, 
 but Calvinism insists equally upon the free-agency of man, which 
 is the truth viewed from the human standpoint. To demonstrate 
 that there is no contradiction between divine sovereignty and 
 human free-agency is a difficult task; but the truth may be 
 illustrated in various ways. The writer in the night once heard 
 the great town clock striking twelve, and at the very same moment 
 in his room the small clock was striking the same hour. There 
 was no connection between the two. Each was running accord- 
 ing to its own schedule, yet they struck the hour simultaneously. 
 In like manner the divine purpose in no way forces the human 
 will ; and yet they may and do coincide perfectly. 
 
 Not only are the two taught in the Word of God, but often in 
 the same text, as for example, in Phil. 2:12-13: "Work out your 
 own salvation with fear and trembling," is a mockery if man is a 
 machine and without free-agency. But immediately the Apostle 
 adds, "For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do 
 of His good pleasure." If that does not affirm absolute depend- 
 ence upon "the good pleasure" of God, both as to the "will" as 
 well as to the "deed," then human language is utterly inadequate to 
 express thought. 
 
 Illustrations. 
 
 Scriptural illustrations are hereby cited as the most effective 
 proofs of the truth under consideration. The advantage of 
 scriptural illustrations is not that God deals with Biblical charac- 
 ters in a more direct and providential way than with his children 
 in the twentieth century, but in scriptural incidents and charac- 
 ters we are permitted to look behind the scenes and see the pur- 
 pose and working of divine Providence, thereby making them 
 "examples; and they are written for our admonition upon whom 
 the ends of the world are come." One illustration is taken from 
 
the Old Testament and tlie other from the New, showing the 
 principles are the same in all ages. 
 
 Old Testament Illustrations. 
 
 The story of Joseph is the historic and inspired interpretation 
 of the prearranged plan of an individual life and of its detailed 
 fulfilment by human means according to the divine purpose in the 
 execution of the decrees of God. Prophecy plays its part in "the 
 dreams/* which foreshadow Joseph's future preeminence over his 
 brethren; but unless an event is fixed by predetermined decree 
 beyond contingency, its fulfilment could not be predicted. The 
 free-agency of man is conspicuous in the use of means, as revealed 
 in the wicked deed of his brethren acting voluntarily and accord- 
 ing to their evil impulses, as well as all the natural events in the 
 story leading to the climax. At length comes the full explanation 
 of the relation between predestination and providence through 
 the lips of Joseph, the inspired "interpreter" of divine providence, 
 as he comforted his conscience-stricken brethren with the assur- 
 ance : "It was not you that sent me hither but God, for God did 
 send me before you to preserve life, to preserve you a posterity in 
 the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. As for you, 
 ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good." (Gen. 
 45 :5, 7 and 50:20.) If we had a similarly inspired interpretation 
 of any human life it would reveal the same divine purpose, the 
 same use of natural means, the same benevolent ends and the same 
 fulfilment of the wise provisions of mercy for the future welfare 
 of God's children ; for He is "The same yesterday, and today and 
 forever." 
 
 Edward Everett Hale has a beautiful tale based on the story 
 of Joseph designed to illustrate divine providence and to show 
 the consequences which would inevitably result from any inter- 
 ference with God's plans for the world's welfare. The story is 
 entitled, "Hands OflF." It represents a man in another stage of 
 existence looking down upon Joseph in the hands of the Midian- 
 ites. By his ingenuity Joseph manages to escape from his captors 
 the first night of his captivity and had just reached the outer limit 
 of the camp when a dog barked and awakened his captors, and 
 
Joseph was returned to his captivity. The onlooker proposed to 
 interfere and kill the dog before he alarmed the camp. Then 
 Joseph would have reached home in safety and his bitter trials 
 have been avoided. But his guardian said, "Hands Off." To let 
 him see the evil consequences of his interference, he transferred 
 him to another world where he could try his experiment. There 
 he killed the dog, and Joseph escaped and reached home safely, 
 his father rejoiced and his brothers were comforted. But when 
 the famine came there had been no Joseph to store the corn 
 against the day of evil. Palestine and Egypt were starved. 
 Great numbers died and the rest were so reduced they were 
 destroyed by the savage Hittites. Civilization was destroyed. 
 Egypt was blotted out. Greece and Rome remained in a barbarous 
 state. The whole history of the world was changed, and countless 
 evils resulted, because a man in his misguided policy killed a dog 
 and saved Joseph from present trouble to his future loss and to 
 the dire distress of a wretched world. 
 
 New Testament Illustrations. 
 
 In the parable of the Lost (Luke XV) with its three parts — 
 The Lost Sheep, The Lost Money, and The Lost Son — Jesus 
 himself furnishes the most striking illustration of the harmony of 
 divine sovereignty and human free-agency. In the first two parts 
 of the Parable, the shepherd goes out after the "lost sheep" and 
 the woman searches for the money, representing the seeking love 
 of God in taking the initiative in salvation — while the shepherd 
 bringing it home on his shoulder and the woman restoring the 
 money, implied the absolute necessity and sole efficiency of divine 
 grace in the salvation of a soul. From the divine standpoint, the 
 soul is brought back upon the shoulders of the Great Shepherd, as 
 if it were wholly the result of irresistible grace. That, however, 
 is only one side of the picture. It takes the last part of the story 
 to represent the human aspect of salvation. The prodigal son 
 comes back of his own accord, as if salvation were conditional 
 solely upon human free-agency in the use of means. In one sense, 
 every lost soul is brought back in the everlasting arms of mercy. 
 In another sense, each soul comes back by its own voluntary act in 
 
response to the seeking love of God. If it had not been for the 
 sovereign, enabling grace of God, typified by the act of the 
 Shepherd seeking and bringing back the lost, there could never 
 have been the voluntary coming back of the lost, represented by 
 the return of the penitent prodigal. In the philosophy of the plan 
 of salvation, Calvinism is, therefore, the only consistent and 
 sufficient explanation of all the facts involved and recounted in the 
 revelation of divine truth. 
 
 Analogy. 
 
 The truth may be illustrated and emphasized by the analogy 
 of human artifice and device. In the construction of a magnificent 
 building, the architect draws the plan in all the minute details, 
 which the contractor executes strictly according to prescribed 
 specifications. In the weaving of some exquisite fabric of rare 
 beauty the designer must first furnish the perfect pattern before 
 the weaver can translate it into the finished product. In like 
 manner predestination is the eternal purpose of God by which 
 Divine Wisdom, anticipating all the contingencies of life, arranged 
 the plan of the universe according to a perfect pattern. Divine 
 Providence is the translation of the pattern into the fabric of 
 human life, controlling all the movements and weaving all the 
 threads into the finished product. God is the designer and we 
 are the weavers. He furnishes the threads of warp and woof, 
 while we move the shuttles in daily duties and in loving service to 
 complete the immortal web of character and achievement. 
 Tapestry weavers work on the wrong side of the fabric, never 
 beholding the artistic splendor until the work is completed. So 
 we play our part largely by faith, until at length we are amazed 
 and thrilled at the beauties and glory of our poor humble lives 
 as they fit into the perfect plan of God, interpreted in the light of 
 eternity. 
 
 III. 
 
 The Presbyterian Polity is Government by Elders. 
 
 It is not its Calvinistic theology but its form of government that 
 gives its name to the Presbyterian Church. The term "Presby- 
 terian" is a Greek word — Presbuteros — which is universally trans- 
 
 10 
 
lated "Elder" in the New Testament. Only once in the English 
 Bible does it occur in the original form. In I Tim. 4:14 Paul 
 reminds Timothy that he was ordained "with the laying on of 
 the hands of the Presbytery" There the word is Presbuterion — 
 differing only by one or two letters from Presbyterian, and it 
 signifies a body of Elders acting in an official character. In the 
 Greek of the New Testament as written by the Apostles, "Pres- 
 byterian" in its various forms occurs about 70 times. In the Old 
 Testament written in Hebrew, the equivalent word for "Elder" is 
 "Zaken" and occurs over 200 times ; so the word "Presb3rterian" is 
 found in the original Scriptures nearly 300 times. 
 
 It would be indeed a revelation to most people if the Bible were 
 translated literally. The fifteenth chapter of Acts would read : 
 "They determined that Paul and Barnabas . . . should go up 
 to Jerusalem unto the apostles and presbyters" ; and "the apostles 
 and presbyters came together to consider this matter"; "and as 
 they went through the cities they delivered them the decrees for 
 to keep that were ordained of the apostles and presbyters." Other 
 passages of Scripture are equally striking: "Ordained presbyters 
 in every church" ; "and from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called 
 the presbyters of the Church" ; "for this cause left I thee in Crete 
 that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting and 
 ordain presbyters in every city." Through the open door of 
 Revelation John looked into heaven and said: "Round about the 
 throne were four and twenty seats and upon the seats four and 
 twenty presbyters. ... In the midst of the presbyters stood 
 a lamb as it had been slain . . . and the four and twenty 
 presbyters fell down and worshipped Him that liveth forever and 
 ever." Presbyterian is, therefore, a Greek word which signifies 
 a church governed by elders, — or presbyters as it is in the original. 
 
 Forms o£ Church Government. 
 
 In the United States the official government statistics show that 
 there exists 201 separate and distinct denominations, but there are 
 only three primary forms of Church Government. Every denomi- 
 nation on earth is a modification or a variation of one of these 
 forms : 
 
 11 
 
Episcopal. 
 
 The first is known as the Episcopal, and in its more extreme 
 form called Prelatic in the Roman Catholic Church. It means 
 government by "bishops" and corresponds in the political world 
 to monarchy. It is the rule of the one man power, — the superior 
 having subordinates under his direction and control. James I. 
 King of England, although reared a Presbyterian, soon perceived 
 that Presbyterianism would not tolerate tyranny in monarchs and 
 said : "Presbytery agreeth with monarchy as well as God and the 
 devil." His misguided son, Charles I. attempted to suppress Pres- 
 byterianism in the interest of Episcopacy and adopted the motto : 
 "No bishop, no king.'* This meant that if the church were allowed 
 too much liberty in self-government, the people would soon demand 
 greater liberty in the state. 
 
 Congregational. 
 
 The second is known as the Congregational form from the fact 
 that each church is governed by the popular vote of the congre- 
 gation. It is sometimes called Independency, because each church 
 is a law unto itself and not bound by any rules enacted by its own 
 denomination. The most ignorant or the youngest church member, 
 has equal vote in determining vital doctrines or far-reaching poli- 
 cies, as the most experienced. Two churches of the same denomi- 
 nation in the same city may vote precisely the opposite to each 
 other in matters of faith and practice. This form is exactly the 
 opposite of the Episcopal — with its one-man power of the bishop. 
 
 Presbyterian. 
 
 Between these two extremes is the Presbyterian form. It is 
 government by representatives, elected by the people, known as 
 "elders" in the English version, or presbyters according to the 
 Greek, as written by the Apostles. In the political world, it is 
 known as the Republican form of governm.ent. Calvinism and 
 Republicanism go ever hand in hand. John Calvin reconstructed 
 the Presbyterian form — which had lapsed and been practically 
 suppressed by the hierarchy of Rome — and modeled it strictly after 
 the scriptural type and Apostolic practices. The Republic of 
 
 12 
 
Geneva was his twin creation — church and state having practically 
 the same polity. Is it any wonder that Ranke, one of the greatest 
 of historians, said : "J<^^^ Calvin was the virtual founder of 
 America" — because it is a Republic embodying Calvin's principles. 
 
 D'Aubigne, who wrote the history of the Reformation, declares : 
 "Calvin was the founder of the greatest of republics. The Pil- 
 grims, who left their country in the reign of James I., — ^and, land- 
 ing on the barren soil of New England, founded populous and 
 mighty colonies, — were his sons, his direct and legitimate sons; 
 and that American nation which we have seen growing so rapidly 
 boasts as its father the humble Reformer on the shores of Lake 
 Leman." 
 
 The Government of the United States is modeled after the Con- 
 stitution of the Presbyterian Church. The Hon. W. C. Preston, 
 one of the greatest orators of South Carolina, saw the resemblance, 
 saying : "Certainly it was the most i-emarkable and singular coin- 
 cidence that the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church should 
 bear such a close and striking resemblance to the political Consti- 
 tution of our country." 
 
 As the founders of the American Republic and the authors of 
 its Constitution were largely Presbyterian, it is not surprising that 
 their church should have formed a model for their political crea- 
 tion. Chief Justice Tilghman furnishes this explanation: "The 
 framers of the Constitution of the United States borrowed very 
 much of the form of our Republic from the Constitution of the 
 Presbyterian Church of Scotland." 
 
 This form of government, — Republican in state and Presby- 
 terian in church — may be traced in the Scriptures from Genesis to 
 Revelation with the help of any concordance by examining each 
 text of Scripture where occurs the word "elder" in the English — 
 or presbyter in the Greek. The following is a brief exposition of 
 these principles based solely on the Scriptures : 
 
 THE ELEMENTS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN FORM OF 
 
 GOVERNMENT. 
 
 1. The Election by the people of their representatives. 
 When it became necessary to select one as a witness of the 
 
 13 
 
resurrection of Christ, (see Acts 1 :13-26), either there were only 
 two men, "Justus and Matthias" who possessed the necessary 
 qualifications; or else they were considered the best qualified 
 among their number, and were nominated for election. It mat- 
 ters not whether the "lots" cast were "ballots," or an appeal to 
 God by casting lots to choose between the two names. In either 
 case it exhibited the church exercising its right of choice. The 
 sixth chapter of Acts is more explicit in its account of the church 
 in its first election of the deacons ; while Acts 14 :23, in selecting 
 their Elders makes the striking statement in the Greek that they 
 were "elected by a show of hands." These citations are sufficient 
 to prove the right of the people to elect their own representatives 
 contrary to the one man power of "appointing" — ^with its tendency 
 in all ages to develop into "lords over God's heritage." 
 
 2. The Identity of Elders and Bishops as different names 
 for the same office. 
 
 They are almost universally denominated "elders," but six times 
 are designated "bishops." In every instance the context makes it 
 perfectly plain that they are identical. In Phil 1:1, the Epistle is 
 addressed to the "bishops and deacons." As elders are not men- 
 tioned, and as they are spoken of in the plural number, it is evident 
 these "bishops" are local officers co-ordinate with deacons, and the 
 same as those in other churches who are spoken of as elders. This 
 amounts to an unanswerable demonstration in Acts, 20:17, where 
 it is said Paul called for the "elders of the church" of Ephesus, 
 and in verse 28 calls them bishops (See Revised Testament). Just 
 one more illustration should surely suffice. Addressing Titus in 
 Chapter 1 :4, Paul speaks of them as "elders," and in verse 7 as 
 "bishops." Throughout the entire Scriptures, bishop is invariably 
 used as the name of a local officer. Jewish Christians called them 
 elders — as they were so designated in their synagogues, — while the 
 Gentile Christians spoke of them as bishops, the name of certain 
 local town officers. 
 
 Even the great scholars of the Episcopal Church — which has its 
 diocesan Bishops— admit that these scriptural "bishops" were 
 entirely different from the diocesan Bishops of their church. The 
 
 14 
 
kte Rev. Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, D. D., Dean of Westminster 
 Abbey, intimate friend of Queen Victoria, in a public address, 
 uttered the following remarkable words: "The most learned of 
 all of the bishops of England, whose accession to the great See of 
 Durham has recently been welcomed with rare unanimity by the 
 whole Church of England, has, with his characteristic moderation 
 and erudition, proved beyond dispute in his celebrated essay, at- 
 tached to his edition of St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, that 
 the early constitution of the apostolic churches of the first century 
 was not that of a single bishop, but of a body of pastors, indiflfer- 
 ently styled bishops or presbyters, and that it was not until the 
 very end of the apostolic age that the office we now call Episcopacy 
 gradually and slowly made its way into Asia Minor ; that Presby- 
 tery was not a later growth out of Episcopacy, but that Episco- 
 pacy was a later growth out of Presbytery; that the office which 
 the apostles instituted was a kind of rule, not by bishops, but of 
 presbyters ; and that even down to the third century presbyters as 
 well as bishops possessed the power of nominating and consecrat- 
 ing bishops; and besides, there were, from the commencement of 
 the middle ages down to the Reformation, large exceptions from 
 the principle of Episcopal government which can be called by no 
 other name than Presbyterian.'' 
 
 Canon Venables in the Encyclopaedia Britannica and Edwin 
 Hatch, Bampton Lecturer, make the same admission. Edward 
 Gibbon in the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, — not himself a 
 Christian, — states that Elder and Bishop were identical during 
 the first centuries of the Christian Era. Speaking of the govern- 
 ment and administration of the Church prior to the Council of 
 Nice, he says, "The public functions of religion were solely en- 
 trusted to the established ministers of the Church, bishops and the 
 presbyters, — two appellations, which, in their first origin, appear 
 to distinguish the same office and the same order of persons. The 
 name of presbyter was expressive of their age, or rather of their 
 gravity and wisdom. The title of bishop denoted their inspection 
 over the faith and manners of the Christians who were committed 
 to their pastoral care." 
 
 15 
 
3. A Plurality of Elders in every Local Church. 
 
 Without exception every scriptural allusion to the officers of a 
 church shows this plurality. "Ordained elders (plural) in every 
 Church," (Acts 14:23). "From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and 
 called for the elders (plural) of the Church," (Acts 20:17) ; "eld- 
 ers (plural) in every city," (Titus 1 :4). If the Scriptures are our 
 guide as to the constitution of the Church, it must be universally 
 admitted that in the Apostolic age there was a plurality of elders 
 in every Church. Charles Spurgeon, the greatest preacher of 
 modern times was so deeply impressed with this fact that he in- 
 sisted on having a body of elders in the great Baptist Church, of 
 which he was pastor, — making himself and hi?, church Presby- 
 terian in form of government. 
 
 4. In the New Testament ordination is always by a church 
 
 court, and not by any bishop or one man power. 
 
 Individuals practised "laying on of hands" in case of sickness for 
 miraculous healing or for the impartation of spiritual gifts ; but in 
 the setting apart of officers for service, their ordination was always 
 by church courts. See Acts 6th chapter where the deacons were 
 so ordained; Acts 13:1-3 where missionaries were thus set apart, 
 and specifically I Tim. 4:14 where the statement is unmistakable 
 that Timothy was ordained, to the ministry "with the laying on of 
 the hands of the Presbytery." 
 
 5. A Gradation of church courts with the right of appeal 
 
 from the lower to the higher. 
 
 For confirmation of this principle the 15th Chapter of Acts 
 should be most carefully examined. Briefly stated, the inspired 
 narrative furnishes the following summary of the facts : 
 
 (1) In the church at Antioch a question of rites and cere- 
 monies arose as to the necessity of circumcision. (2) This con- 
 troversy between Paul and Barnabas on the one side and the false 
 teachers on the other, could not be settled by the local church at 
 Antioch. (3) The question was referred to an ecclesiastical as- 
 sembly composed of apostles and elders at Jerusalem. (4) After 
 much deliberation a decision was reached and a deliverance promul- 
 
 16 
 
gated by this higher church court of apostles and elders. (5) The 
 decision was rendered not to affect simply Antioch where it origi- 
 nated, but the whole church ; for the records state : "and as they 
 went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to 
 keep that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at 
 Jerusalem." (Acts 16:4). 
 
 These, therefore, are the five elements which entered into the 
 constitution of the apostolic church : ( 1 ) The election of repre- 
 sentatives by the people; (2) the identity of bishops and elders as 
 different names for the same officers; (3) a plurality of such 
 bishops or elders in each local church; (4) ordination by a church 
 court ; and (5) a graduation of such courts with the right of appeal 
 from the lower to the higher. The world may be safely challenged 
 to produce any denomination of Christians today where all these 
 scriptural principles are practiced except in the Presbyterian 
 Church. The conclusion is unassailable that if a scriptural model 
 and apostolic practice are the sole determining factors, there is no 
 Church on earth which has higher claim than the Presbyterian as 
 the Apostolic Church. 
 
 IV. 
 
 The Spiritual Character of the Church. 
 
 The principle announced by Christ, "Render unto Caesar the 
 things which are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's," 
 should forever settle and determine the fact, that there are two 
 spheres of authority with distinct and separate jurisdiction. One is 
 human government under kings or temporal rulers bearing the 
 sword as their symbol of authority. The other is the church, a 
 spiritual kingdom whose divine Head is the Lord Jesus, whose 
 rulers are subject to Him and whose jurisdiction is spiritual, "min- 
 isterial and declarative." As Christ himself repudiated temporal 
 jurisdiction, stating, "My kingdom is not of this world," so the 
 Presbyterian church embodies in its constitution the prohibition: 
 "Synods and Councils are to handle or conclude nothing but that 
 which is ecclesiastical; and are not to intermeddle with civil af- 
 fairs which concern the commonwealth, unless by way of humble 
 petition in cases extraordinary." 
 
 17 
 
Presbyteries and General Assemblies have not always conformed 
 their practice to these principles, and sometimes have violated their 
 constitution and occasionally invaded the province of the state, but 
 such violations have afterward been recognized and repudiated and 
 their principles reaffirmed. The mistakes are temporary. The 
 principles are eternal. 
 
 These four general principles as thus expounded and hereinafter 
 advocated constitute the substance of the Presbyterian system: 
 
 1. The Word of God, as the only Rule of Faith and Practice. 
 
 2. The Calvinistic Theology, involving Divine Sovereignty and 
 Human Free-Agency. 
 
 3. The Scriptural Form of Government by Elders. 
 
 4. The Spiritual Character of the Church. 
 
 With this brief exposition of the System, the effort will be made 
 in the remaining chapters to justify these principles by an appeal 
 chiefly to the Word of God, to History and to the results of the 
 System in its practical working, as witnessed by the general con- 
 sensus of the greatest scholars of all ages and all Creeds. 
 
 18 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 ^refl(bj>teriani£(m in ^iatoxp. 
 
 Ernest Renan, brilliant scholar and skeptic, unconsciously 
 awards to the Presbyterian Church Apostolic Succession in his oft- 
 quoted sneer, "Paul begat Augustine and Augustine begat John 
 Calvin;" to which other scoffers have added, "and John Calvin 
 begat the Presbyterian Church." None familiar with the facts 
 as crystalized in the verdict of History will dispute the essential 
 correctness of Renan's statement — however they may repudiate* the 
 scoffer's fling at the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 In his Lectures on Calvinism, the late Dr. Kuyper, eminent the- 
 ologian as well as Prime Minister of Holland, rendered substan- 
 tially the same judgment, but traced the historic succession to a far 
 more remote source, affirming: "The development of life is or- 
 ganic and, therefore,, each new period roots in the past. In its 
 deepest logic Calvinism had already been apprehended by Augus- 
 tine ; had, long before Augustine, been proclaimed to the City of the 
 Seven Hills by the Apostle in his Epistle to the Romans ; and from 
 Paul goes back to Israel and its prophets, yea, to the tents of the 
 Patriarchs." 
 
 Apostolic Succession — Spurious. 
 
 Advocates of "Apostolic Succession" appeal to history. Pres- 
 byterianism with far more force lays claim to apostolic sanction, 
 but at the same time it bases its claim on much higher ground — in 
 a historic succession which runs through the entire Scriptures. 
 The figment of a so-called succession of men ordained by bishops 
 in one unbroken line reaching back to the Apostles is the "baseless 
 fabric of a dream." It has been utterly repudiated by the ablest 
 scholars of the Communion, which sets up the unfounded claim. 
 The arch-bishop of Dublin, one of the great scholars of the Epis- 
 copal Church and at one time the supreme head of the Church of 
 Ireland, repudiated it in no uncertain terms, saying : "There is 
 
 19 
 
not a minister in all Christendom who is able to trace up with any 
 approach to certainty his own spiritual pedigree." Macaulay, the 
 greatest of English historians and a member of the Church of 
 England, nearly a century ago, hurled this challenge into the ranks 
 of its advocates which has never been met: "The transmission 
 of orders from the Apostles to an English clergyman of the present 
 day must have been through a very great number of intermediate 
 persons. Now it is probable that no clergyman in the Church of 
 England can trace up his spiritual genealogy, from bishop to bishop, 
 even so far back as the time of the Reformation. There remain 
 fifteen or sixteen hundred years, during which the history of the 
 transmission of orders is buried in utter darkness. And whether 
 he be priest by succession from the Apostles depends on the ques- 
 tion whether during that long period some thousands of events 
 took place, any one of which may, without any gross improbability, 
 be supposed not to have taken place. We have not a tittle of evi- 
 dence to any one of these events. . . . If no evidence were 
 admitted but that which is furnished by the genuine Christian liter- 
 ature of the first two centuries, judgment would not go in favor 
 of prelacy.'* 
 
 Apostolic Succession — Genuine. 
 
 False assumptions of bigotry should not, however, prevent the 
 plea that in all the ages there has been a genuine succession of 
 spiritual men, custodians of the truth, who have transmitted the 
 faith from generation to generation in fulfilment of the promise, 
 "Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall 
 not prevail against it." This guarantees the perpetuity of the 
 Church — not of some sect asserting exclusive claims to the title, 
 rights and prerogatives which are the inheritance of a common 
 Christianity. 
 
 Denominational Names. 
 
 Not a denomination existing today under any ecclesiastical 
 name can show unbroken identity to apostolic times. "Things, 
 however, are older than their names." The precepts and practices 
 of each existed before any one of them had organic life, and each 
 
 20 
 
is a development of the preceding. Contrary to prevalent opinion 
 and contrary to its preposterous claims, the Roman Catholic, in its 
 modern form, is the youngest of all. Traced historically, the de- 
 velopment of the church took place in the following order : 
 
 From the necessity of the case, Independency existed first. 
 This was due to imperfect organization and not to scriptural pre- 
 cept. Individual churches must have sprung into existence, iso- 
 lated and separated, with no possible means of communication 
 among themselves, and, consequently with no means of organic 
 life. That this condition was temporary and imperfect is very 
 evident from the scriptural accounts and apostolic acts, which 
 resulted in this incomplete organization, but took definite form at 
 length in "Presbytery" (I Tim. 4:14) and "General Assembly" 
 (Acts 15th Chap.). If anything can be established by scriptural 
 precept and precedent, it can be demonstrated that the normal type 
 of organized church life was Presbyterian. This is the consensus 
 of opinion shared by scholars of all ages and various denomina- 
 tions, as, for example: Canon Venables, Bishop Lightfoot, Dean 
 Stanley and Edwin Hatch of the Episcopal Church, Jerome of the 
 Roman Catholic, and Spurgeon of the Baptist. 
 
 This Presbyterian form existed in its scriptural simplicity at 
 least till the second century and in some sections possibly longer. 
 Next came Episcopacy — long after apostolic times — ^growing grad- 
 ually by means of prominent Presbyters assuming authority over 
 their brethren by reason of recognized ability or metropolitan posi- 
 tion. In due course of time this new and higher order of ministers 
 was called "Bishops" and gradually became well-nigh the universal 
 and established order. This explains the origin of Episcopacy, 
 and even its ablest friends do not claim it was the scriptural order 
 —but "historic." 
 
 The Climax. 
 
 Error ordinarily knows no such thing as arrested development. 
 Very soon, therefore, among these unscriptural officials known as 
 "Bishops," the most ambitious exalted themselves like "Diotrephes, 
 who loved to have the pre-eminence." Consequently, there sprang 
 up an order of arch-bishops, culminating finally in one head, su- 
 
 21 
 
preme in authority, known as the Pope of Rome. The papacy was 
 thus the latest development of organized church life, and which at 
 length sought to suppress all others and conform the whole church 
 to its unscriptural prelatic type. By fire and fagot, by rack and 
 thumb-screws, by sword and Inquisition, by Knights of Columbus 
 and political schemes, this Apostate Church seeks to "lord it over 
 God's heritage'* until it dominates the world in the interest of its 
 system. 
 
 Historic Presbyterianism. 
 
 Having given this exposition of the rise of ecclesiastical orders, 
 the purpose of this chapter is to trace "Historic Presbyterianism" 
 through the ages, showing that its principles have repeated them- 
 selves in the life and work of various tribes and nations ; and under 
 its symbol of "The Burning Bush" it has lived and flourished even 
 in the midst of the flames kindled by its enemies for its utter de- 
 struction. Its motto, "Tamen non consumabatur" — signifying 
 "Nevertheless it is not consumed" — is prophetic of its indestructi- 
 ble and immortal life. 
 
 I. 
 
 Early Days of Christianity. 
 
 Not only was Presbyterianism the scriptural type, but for the 
 first century, at least, it was the typical form of the organic life 
 of the whole church. Edward Gibbon, skeptic and historian, hav- 
 ing no interest in supporting the claims of any denomination, as- 
 serts in "The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire" — quoted in 
 our first chapter — that Presbyterianism was the type of the first 
 centuries. In confirmation of this contention, he asserts that in 
 North Africa alone there were more than a thousand bishops. 
 They could not have been diocesan bishops in the prelatic sense, 
 for one small section of North Africa would then have contained 
 more bishops than there are dioceses throughout the whole world. 
 It is perfectly evident, therefore, that they were only scriptural 
 bishops in the Presbyterian sense, equivalent to elders. 
 
 Jerome, the chief authority in the Roman Catholic Church, 
 makes the same admission: "In the beginning of the Church, 
 
 22 
 
bishop and presbyter were the same ; afterwards one was chosen to 
 preside over the rest, as a remedy for schism." "Let the bishops 
 know,** he adds, "that they are superior to presbyters rather by 
 custom than by an actual appointment of the Lord." During the 
 first and perhaps the second centuries there existed no bishop in 
 the Episcopal sense and no prelate of the Roman Catholic type. 
 No claim is made that the Presbyterian Church with its name and 
 all of its well articulated system, existed continuously, but without 
 fear of successful contradiction — if the testimony of history and the 
 weight of scholarship count for anything — ^the type of the first 
 ages was Presbyterian in its simplicity, and nothing else. 
 
 Propagating the Faith. 
 
 This was not only the age of martyrdom but the period of great- 
 est missionary activity. Persecution itself has been used of God 
 more than once as a means of scattering the seed of divine truth. 
 As in the days of the Apostles, "They that were scattered abroad 
 went everywhere preaching the word;" and as in modern times 
 the founding of America was due to the persecutions of the mis- 
 guided Stuarts of England ; so in all probability the period of mar- 
 tyrdom scattered multitudes of these Christian missionaries into the 
 uttermost parts of the earth. Fortunately it was before the rise 
 of prelacy, and so they carried the simplicity and purity of the 
 primitive faith among the Waldenses in the mountains of Italy, 
 among the Celts of the British Isles and doubtless among other 
 tribes and mountain fastnesses unknown in the annals of history. 
 
 Historic Illustrations. 
 
 As illustrations of this fact and in explanation of the existence 
 of Presbyterian principles — ^though very imperfect in form and 
 purity — among far distant countries, having no connection what- 
 ever with each other, account will be given — ^though not in their 
 historic order — of the most notable of these historic churches and 
 their struggles. 
 
 II. 
 
 The Waldenses. 
 
 In the northwestern part of Italy, nestling among picturesque 
 mountains, situated in the province of Piedmont, are some of the 
 
 23 
 
loveliest valleys of earth. Among these far-famed mountain ram- 
 parts there exists today a vigorous Presbyterian Church, the de- 
 scendants of the martyred Waldenses, who are often styled "The 
 Israel of the Alps" by reason of their resemblance to God's chosen 
 people of old, maintaining a pure faith and worship reaching back 
 into the dim twilight of history. 
 
 It would be claiming too much to assert they were Presbyterian 
 in all their past and in all their parts, for that name had not yet 
 become attached to any body of believers as a separate denomina- 
 tion. At the same time, their practices and principles more closely 
 allied them with Presbyterianism than with any other historic faith. 
 They were not even Protestant, for they antedated the Reforma- 
 tion and have always insisted that they were "not reformed be- 
 cause they had never been deformed/* 
 
 The origin of the Waldenses has been, and will doubtless con- 
 tinue to be, a matter of dispute. They themselves have stoutly 
 asserted their claims as dating back to the time of the Apostles. 
 The road from Rome into Gaul and Spain led through these val- 
 leys, and it is believed that early disciples of Christianity planted 
 the pure gospel here in their journeys westward. Others maintain 
 that this ancient church had its beginning in the refugees driven 
 from Rome under the perscution of Nero. This is the contention 
 of Henri Armaud, one of their most noted pastors, who himself 
 led the "Glorious Return" of the remnant that marched from 
 Geneva back to Piedmont and again possessed themselves of their 
 native valleys : 
 
 "The Waldenses are, in fact, descended from these refugees 
 from Italy who, after St. Paul had there preached the gospel, 
 abandoned their beautiful country and fled, like the woman men- 
 tioned in the Apocalypse, to these wild mountains, where they 
 have to this day handed down the gospel from father to son, in the 
 same purity and simplicity it was preached by St. Paul." In a 
 petition presented to their sovereign, Philibert Emmanuel, Duke 
 of Savoy and Prince of Piedmont, in the year 1559, they make 
 this statement : "We likewise beseech your Royal Highness to con- 
 sider, that this religion which we profess is not only falsely re- 
 ported, but it was the religion of our fathers, grandfathers and 
 
 24 
 
great-grandfathers, and other yet more ancient predecessors of 
 ours, and of the blessed martyrs, confessors, prophets and apostles; 
 and if they can prove to the contrary, we are ready to subscribe 
 and yield thereunto." 
 
 Their motto, "Lux lucet in tenebris" — signifying "The light 
 shineth in darkness" — is symbolic of their mission. Through more 
 than two centuries they endured every conceivable persecution at 
 the hands of Rome, which sought in vain to extinguish the light. 
 John Milton, author of "Paradise Lost," secretary to Oliver 
 Cromwell, wrote the sonnet : 
 
 "Avenge, O Lord ! thy slaughtered saints whose bones 
 
 Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold ; 
 Even them who kept Thy truth so pure of old, 
 
 When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones, 
 Forget not : in Thy book record their groans 
 
 Who were Thy sheep, and in their ancient fold 
 Slain by the Bloody Piedmontese that rolled 
 
 Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans 
 The vales redoubled to the hills, and they 
 
 To heaven. Their martyred blood and ashes sow 
 O'er all the Italian fields, where still doth sway 
 
 The triple tyrant; that from these may grow 
 A hundredfold, who having learned Thy way 
 
 Early may fly the Babylonian woe." 
 
 Oliver Cromwell heard their cry and, perhaps influenced by John 
 Milton, raised 38,000 pounds for their relief and threatened "that 
 his ships in the Mediterranean should visit Civita Veachia and that 
 the sound of his cannon should be heard in Rome." This had the 
 desired effect in calling off the minions of Rome and in giving them 
 temporary respite. True to her bloody record, Rome again re- 
 turned to her persecuting spirit till Napoleon Bonaparte gave them 
 relief; and after repeated harrying, finally, in 1848, through the 
 intervention of England and the edict of King Charles Albert, they 
 at last secured religious liberty to worship God according to the 
 dictates of their conscience and to preach the faith of their 
 fathers. 
 
 25 
 
This ancient Church whose history is written in blood still lives. 
 The present King of Italy has honored them — much to the mortifi- 
 cation of the Papacy — in choosing one of their number as gover- 
 ness for his children. Marconi, the inventor of wireless telegraphy, 
 is an honored member of the Waldensian Church. They have 
 colonies in the bounds of our own Southern Presbyterian Church at 
 Valdese, North Carolina, at Monett, Missouri, at Texarkana, Ar- 
 kansas, and at Gainesville, Texas. True to their historic princi- 
 ples, they are a constituent part of the Pan Presbyterian Council — 
 "An Alliance of Reformed Churches throughout the World 
 holding the Presbyterian System." No wonder Dr. R. P. Kerr 
 states : "Empires have risen and fallen ; dynasties have come and 
 gone ; the whole face of the world has changed again and again ; 
 but this heroic band has not been conquered, nor has their star 
 ceased to shine above the snowy pinnacles of the Alps." 
 
 III. 
 
 Celtic Christianity. 
 
 According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the inhabitants of 
 Western Europe were called "Keltoi," by the Greeks, from which 
 is derived the name "Celts" for a remarkable race of people. The 
 Romans named their country "Gaul" which coincided largely with 
 the present boundaries of France, and which Caesar "divided into 
 three parts," In the migrations of races, historians inform us that 
 a colony of Celts from Western Europe made their way into Asia 
 Minor and settled the region known as Galatia, where Christianity 
 was early planted and to whom Paul wrote the Epistle to the 
 Galatians. Long before the invasion of Britain by the Romans, a 
 branch of this Celtic race took complete possession of the British 
 Isles. The subsequent invasion of tlie Romans under Julius Cae- 
 sar, of the Anglo-Saxons under Hengist and Horsa, of the Danes 
 and under Canute, and of the Normans under William the Con- 
 queror, succeeded in dispossessing the Cells in England only. In 
 their mountain fastnesses in Wales, Scotland and Ireland these 
 fierce Celtic warriors, known in history as Picts and Scots, were 
 
 26 
 
never conquered. Their descendants have held possession of the 
 same territory for over two thousand years. 
 
 Ancient Origin. 
 
 The introduction of Christianity among these Celts of Ireland 
 and Scotland dates back to such a remote period that no historian 
 can account for it. Two explanations have been suggested. One 
 theory claims that communications between the Celts of Asia Minor 
 
 gave their kinsmen in the British Isles the gospel in its primitive 
 form; the other suggestion is that Greek Missionaries landed at 
 Cornwall, England, and kindled the gospel light which speedily 
 flamed throughout the British Isles. Only in this way is it possible 
 to account for the Greek names "Alexander" and "Andrew" every- 
 where prevalent in Scotland and the still more singular fact the 
 Greek Cross of St. Andrew is the National Coat of Arms of Scot- 
 land. 
 
 Tertullian, one of the earliest Church Fathers, who was almost 
 contemporary with the Apostle John, asserts that "those parts of 
 Britain that were inaccessible to the Romans fthe highlands of 
 Scotland) had become subject to Christ." No matter, therefore, 
 what may be the explanation, Tertullian asserts the fact of the ex- 
 istence of Christianity among these Picts and Scots. Baronius, the 
 Romish historian of the Church, asserts on the authority of certain 
 manuscripts in the Vatican that Christianity was carried to Britain 
 in A. D. 35, which would even antedate its introduction into Rome. 
 Neander, the Church Historian, places on record his judgment 
 "that the Britons had received their Christianity either immediately, 
 or, through Gaul, from Asia Minor, a thing quite possible and as 
 easy, by means of commercial intercourse." Dean Milman argues 
 to the same conclusion from the controversy between the Scottish 
 Missionaries and the Romish ecclesiastics in England, saying : "It 
 is curious to find Greek Christianity thus at the verge of the 
 Roman world, maintaining some of its usages and co-equality." 
 Two Scotch Historians, Spotswood and Buchanan, concur in the 
 statement that "the Scots were taught Christianity by the disciples 
 of the Apostle John." 
 
 27 
 
Reversion to Paganism. 
 
 At the time Christianity of the Greek type was flourishing among 
 the Celts of Scotland, the invasion by the Anglo-Saxons in 449 
 A. D. wrested England from the Romans and brought in their 
 pagan Druid customs, which soon effaced from England whatever 
 of Christianity it may have once possessed. This accounts for the 
 historic incident recorded by Milman which led to the introduc- 
 of Romish Christianity into England : 
 
 "When Gregory the Great was a simple monk of St. Andrew, 
 he saw some beautiful, fair-haired boys exposed for sale in the 
 market place of Rome. He inquired from whence they came. 
 'From Britain.' *Are they Christians?' 'They are still pagans.' 
 'Alas ! that the Prince of Darkness should possess forms of such 
 loveliness ! That such beauty of countenance should want the bet- 
 ter beauty of the soul !' He then asked of what nation they were. 
 'Angles,' was the reply. 'Truly,' he said, 'they are angels ! From 
 what province?' 'That of Deira.' 'Truly, they must be rescued 
 "de ira" (from the wrath of God).' 'What is the name of their 
 King?' 'Aella.' 'Yea,' said Gregory, 'Allelulia must be sung in 
 the dominions of that King.' " 
 
 After Gregory became Pope he sent Augustine the Monk (not 
 the theologian) to EnglaniJ as a Missionary, which was the means 
 of introducing Latin Christianity into England ; but the Greek 
 type already held possession of Scotland. One hundred years 
 previous to the coming of Augustine, St. Patrick of Scotland had 
 carried the Gospel to Ireland ; and St. Columba of Ireland had but 
 recently established his missionary institution at lona on the coast 
 of Scotland. 
 
 It is a curious coincidence that Scotland and Ireland not only 
 exchanged names, but each gave to the other its patron Saint. 
 Ireland, the home of the Scots, was called Scotia, which later be- 
 came the name of Scotland ; and Ireland became Hibernia, the 
 name by which Scotland was originally called. St. Patrick, born 
 on the Clyde in Scotland, went as a missionary to Ireland, and 
 nearly one hundred years later St. Columba, born in Ireland, estab- 
 lished his famous Monastery on lona, adjacent to Scotland, — ^the 
 
 28 
 
latter event being of much historic importance and of such far- 
 reaching influence as to call for extended mention. 
 
 lona. 
 
 On the northwestern rugged coast of Scotland the bleak little 
 Isle of lona lifts its craggy peaks — in area only three miles long 
 and scarcely two in width and with scarcely any arable land. Dr. 
 Samuel Johnson, notwithstanding his contempt for everything 
 Scotch, was constrained to say of this bleak isle : 
 
 "That man is little to be envied, whose patriotism would not 
 gain force on the plains of Marathon, or whose piety would not 
 grow warmer among the ruins of lona." 
 
 Such historic interest attached to it that it became the West- 
 minster Abbey of Scotland, where illustrious Kings and famed 
 warriors sleep side by side. Kenneth, the first King of Scotland, 
 King Duncan and Macbeth who murdered him — ^immortalized by 
 Shakespeare — as well as noblemen of other countries as far oflF as 
 Norway and France, were brought hither to rest in its holy soil. 
 On the last day of his life St. Columba, from the hill overlooking 
 the Monastery, uttered this prophecy: "Unto this place, albeit 
 so small and poor, great homage shall yet be paid, not only by the 
 Kings and the people of the Scots, but by the rulers of barbarous 
 and distant nations, with their people also. In great veneration, 
 too, shall it be held by the holy men of other churches." 
 
 Leaving Ireland in bitter disappointment, through some misfor- 
 tune unrecorded, he acquired title to this seemingly valueless 
 storm-swept Isle and founded a great "School of the Prophets" 
 for training and sending missionaries throughout Scotland and even 
 into England. King Oswald of Northumbria had found shelter 
 in lona, — where he was partially educated — and was so impressed 
 with its religious life that he invited its missionaries to come and 
 Christianize his subjects. This precipitated the unavoidable con- 
 flict with the Romish Monks of England, and King Oswald was 
 finally persuaded to commit the religious instruction to them and 
 dismiss those of Scotland. Milman in his "Latin Christianity," 
 speaking of this collision, said : "One-half of the island had been 
 converted by the monks from Scotland, the other by those from 
 
 29 
 
Rome. They were opposed on certain points of discipline, — held 
 hardly of less importance than vital truths of the Gospel." 
 
 The Culdee Church. 
 
 Hitherto all reference to the Culdee Church has been avoided. 
 The controversy waged between ecclesiastics — whether the Monks 
 of St. Columba were Culdees, and whether these Culdees were as 
 pure as claimed and whether they were substantially Presbyterians, 
 — is not of material consequence. The essential facts, established 
 by church historians, indicate that the type of Christianity known 
 to St. Patrick, to St. Columba and to the Culdees of Scotland, so 
 far from being Roman Catholic, was radically different from the 
 modern Romish System. If the references as cited indicate that 
 primitive Christianity was established among these Celts at a very 
 early period, in all probability it underwent a gradual change, 
 gravitating toward Prelacy, as in the case of Latin Christianity on 
 the Continent. To say the least, however, it constitutes a connect- 
 ing link in the Historic Church of Scotland, showing a line of 
 succession probably independent of Rome, which may account for 
 the fact that the Reformation there found more congenial soil than 
 in other parts of Britain. 
 
 Distinguishing Marks. 
 
 Contrary to Romish practice, their ministry was permitted to 
 marry. The Bishops had no diocese and no jurisdiction over the 
 ministry. Archbishop Usher states: **We read in Nennius that 
 at the beginning St. Patrick founded (in Ireland) three hundred 
 and sixty-five churches, and ordained three hundred and sixty-five 
 bishops and three thousand presbyters or elders." As there were 
 three hundred and sixty-five bishops and three hundred and sixty- 
 five churches, it is clear that these bishops were just what Presby- 
 terian bishops are now — pastors, and nothing more. This was 
 in Ireland, but St. Patrick, doubtless, established the same forms 
 and ordinances in which he had been trained in his native country, 
 Scotland. Bishop Stillingfleet says : "If we may believe their 
 own historians, the Church of Scotland was governed by their 
 own Culdei, as they called their Presbyters, without any (prelati- 
 
 30 
 
cal) bishop over them." A Romish bishop, named Palladius, was 
 sent up to Scotland in the fifth century, but the people refused to 
 recognize his authority and rejected him. Bede, though indignant 
 at their repudiation of the authority of the Romish bishop, testi- 
 fies that "they preached only such works of charity and piety as 
 they could learn from the prophetical, evangelical and apostolical 
 writings." D'Aubigne says: "lona, governed by a simple elder, 
 had become a missionary college. It has been called sometimes a 
 monastery, but the dwelling of the grandson of Fergus (Columba) 
 in nowise resembled the Popish convents. When its youthful in- 
 mates desired to spread the knowledge of Jesus Christ, they 
 thought not of going elsewhere for Episcopal ordination. Kneel- 
 ing in the chapel of Icolmkill (in lona) they were set apart by 
 the laying on of the hands of the elders ; they were called bishops, 
 but remained obedient to the elder or presbyter of lona." 
 
 Ebrard declares that it was "evangelical," not only because it 
 was free and independent of Rome and, when the papal church 
 came into contact with it, always and obstinately repudiated its 
 authority under an appeal to the single and supreme authority of 
 the Holy Scriptures, but above all, because in its inner life it was 
 penetrated throughout by the main principles of the evangelical 
 church. However, modern scholarship leans to the opinion that 
 these Culdees have been given too much credit for simplicity and 
 purity, and that they evidently conformed more or less to the 
 times of superstition and ignorance in which they lived. 
 
 Scotland vs. England. 
 
 The types of Christianity which have prevailed in the two coun- 
 tries can be easily explained. The Scottish Church was much 
 older than the English. The Scottish was the Greek type, while 
 the English was Latin. The Scotch were Celtic, the English an 
 admixture but chiefly Anglo-Saxon. The Scottish resisted the 
 Romish Church many centuries ; the English were papal from the 
 beginning. The Reformation in Scotland was forced on the throne 
 by the people. The Reformation in England was imposed on the 
 people by the throne, and changed with the change of monarchs. 
 It was Pagan under the Romans, Christian under the Britons, 
 
 31 
 
Druid under the Saxons, Papal under the Normans, Protestant 
 under Henry, Popish under Mary, Protestant under Ehzabeth, 
 Independent under Cromwell,, Prelatic under Charles IL, Episco- 
 pal since the Revolution of 1688. 
 
 The Reformation in Scotland was thorough and complete; the 
 Reformation in England was an illustration of arrested develop- 
 ment. The ancient Church of Scotland was somewhat of the type 
 of the first century of the Christian era; the Church of England 
 belonged to the type of the third century, after Presbyterianism 
 had been corrupted into Prelacy. 
 
 "Like Precious Faith with Us." 
 
 The conflict of Presbyterian principles with Romanism went 
 on through the ages and raged in many countries. The lack of 
 space alone prevents chapters — similar to those recounting Wal- 
 densian struggles in Italy and the conflict in Scotland — ^which could 
 be written of the heroic struggles of the Huguenots in France, of 
 the Dutch in Holland with the infamous Duke of Alva, and in 
 Bohemia of the followers of Huss with the same unrelenting foes. 
 If any are inclined to dispute the fact that it was Presbyterianism 
 which chiefly "contended for the faith which was once delivered 
 unto the Saints," then it devolves upon him to explain why in every 
 instance after the battle triumphantly ended, these heroic and his- 
 toric churches arranged themselves under the banner of Presby- 
 trianism and are without exception constituent parts of the Pan- 
 Presbyterian Alliance today. Professor Heron of Belfast states 
 substantially in another form the same truth : "It is a simple his- 
 torical fact, of deep significance, that wherever the Reformation 
 had free course and wherever it was permitted to shape itself 
 spontaneously after Scripture, and without external interference, 
 it assumed a Presbyterian form." 
 
 IV. 
 Presbytery vs. Episcopacy. 
 
 The successful issue of Presbyterianism in its conflicts with 
 Romanism did not end its struggle entirely. After the Reforma- 
 tion the battle was transferred to a new arena and was continued 
 
 32 
 
in the conflict between Presbytery and Episcopacy. At the dawn 
 of the Reformation Henry VIII of England made such vigorous 
 onslaught on Martin Luther, that the Pope conferred on him the 
 title, "Defender of the Faith ;" but when the Pope refused to ap- 
 prove of his divorce, he broke away from Rome, not upon religious 
 grounds but in the interest of his wicked ends. He transformed 
 the Church, but he did not reform it. As a matter of fact, it was 
 chiefly a change of masters with himself the head of the Church 
 as its Supreme Pontif. The real Reformation began under his 
 son, Edward VI, but was cut short by his untimely death. Bloody 
 Mary made havoc of Protestantism in her efforts to restore Eng- 
 land to the fold of Rome. Elizabeth, like her imperious father, 
 imposed her royal will on the Church, which arrested the free de- 
 velopment of Protestantism and resulted in what Macaulay denom- 
 inated a compromise between Catholicism and Protestantism. 
 
 The coming of James I to the throne, — reared a Scotch Presby- 
 terian, — was doubtless hailed as the working of divine Providence. 
 He himself had signed "the National Covenant" of Scotland and 
 was regarded as a "Covenanter," but he soon became alarmed at the 
 republicanism inherent in Presbyterianism and began a series of 
 acts calculated to suppress it and to establish Episcopacy in its 
 stead, giving utterance to the famous saying, "Presbytery agreeth 
 as well with Monarchy as God with the devil." Charles I, his ill- 
 advised son, under the sway of the bigoted Laud, Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, undertook the unfinished work of his father and insti- 
 tuted more aggressive measures for forcing Episcopacy on the 
 Presbyterian Church of Scotland. 
 
 The Dean of Edinburgh, acting under orders from King Charles, 
 attempted to introduce the liturgy in St. Giles in the presence of 
 the privy council and magistrates and a large assembly of the peo- 
 ple on Sunday, July 23, 1637. But it was unsuccessful. Accord- 
 ing to the old story, Jenny Geddes, an herb-woman, hearing the 
 Archbishop call on the Dean to read the "collect for the day," mis- 
 understood the word but not the act, and cried out, "The deil gi'e 
 ye the colic ! Villaine, dost thou say mass at my lug (ear) ?" With 
 that she hurled the stool whereon she had been sitting at the head 
 of the Dean. This was the signal for an uprising of the congrega- 
 
 33 
 
tion, and the people shouted through the streets : "A pope, a pope ! 
 Anti-Christ! The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!" This out- 
 burst of popular indignation was not confined to Edinburgh, but 
 there was such violent opposition manifested throughout the king- 
 dom that the project was abandoned by the clergy. Not so with 
 Charles, who raised an army to force Episcopacy upon Scotland, 
 and began a foolish conflict which ended in his own destruction and 
 the establishment of a new government in England, with Cromwell 
 at its head. Stanley says: "The stool" (now in the Museum of 
 Edinburgh) "which was on that occasion flung at the head of the 
 Dean of Edinburgh, extinguished the English Liturgy entirely in 
 Scotland, for the seventeenth century, for a great extent even to 
 the nineteenth, and gave to the civil war in England an impulse 
 which only ended in the overthrow of the church and the mon- 
 archy." 
 
 To meet this new danger to the liberties of the Church, Alexan- 
 der Henderson, next to John Knox, Scotland's greatest Reformer, 
 modified the National Covenant to suit the exigencies of the crisis. 
 It pledged the subscribers "to adhere to and defend the true re- 
 ligion, and forbear the practice of all innovations already intro- 
 duced into the worship of God, and to labor by all means lawful to 
 recover the purity and liberty of the gospel as it was professed and 
 established before the aforesaid innovations." Henderson delivered 
 a powerful sermon in Greyfriars Church, Edinburgh, on February 
 28, 1638, after which it was signed in the churchyard, — tomb- 
 stones serving for writing tables, — by thousands of persons, some 
 of whom, it is said, drew blood from their arms to use instead of 
 ink. It cost many of them the blood of their hearts, eventually. 
 Copies of the Covenant were distributed throughout Scotland, and 
 signed by great numbers of the best people in the land. On that 
 memorable day, in old Greyfriars churchyard, Henderson said the 
 people oflfered themselves like dewdrops in the morning for the 
 service of heaven, as they swore allegiance to the King of Kings. 
 The Covenanters at last triumphed, and in 1639 the "Barrier Act" 
 was passed by Parliament, providing that no change should there- 
 after be made in the laws of the Church without the sanction of the 
 Assemblies of the Church. 
 
 34 
 
The Westminster Confession of Faith. ^ 
 
 The next year after Charles I fled from Whitehall, London, to 
 return no more until his execution, while Cromwell was rising 
 among his compatriots as their leader, a great gathering of minis- 
 ters and elders from both kingdoms was called to meet in West- 
 minster Abbey. It has become historic under the name of "The 
 Westminster Assembly." It sat from 1643 to 1649, and prepared 
 the noblest confession of faith ever given to the world. The Eng- 
 lish divines had already met, and now requested the assistance of 
 commissioners from the Church of Scotland. Another celebrated 
 declaration, also called a "Covenant," or "THE SOLEMN 
 LEAGUE AND COVENANT," was drawn up by Alexander 
 Henderson, in conference with English commissioners to Edin- 
 burgh. It was adopted by the General Assembly in that city on 
 the 17th day of August, 1643, with emotions of the deepest solem- 
 nity, sent up to London, and there accepted and subscribed by the 
 English Parliament and the Westminster Assembly. 
 
 "The Solemn League and Covenant bound the United Kingdoms 
 to endeavor the preservation of the reformed religion in the 
 Church of Scotland, in doctrine, worship, discipline, and govern- 
 ment, and the reformation of religion in the Kingdoms of England 
 and Ireland, according to the Word of God and the example of the 
 best-reformed churches, — the extirpation of Popery and Prelacy, — 
 the defence of the King's person, authority, and honor, — and the 
 preservation and defence of the true religion and liberties of the 
 kingdom in peace and unity." 
 
 The object of this League was to secure uniformity in the re- 
 ligious worship of the two countries, and the Westminster Assem- 
 bly was charged with preparing a doctrinal basis for the accom- 
 plishment of this end. The Assembly was called by Parliament, 
 and consisted of Episcopalians, Independents and Presbyterians. 
 The Episcopal divines declined to act ; so the work was left to the 
 two latter. The Independents were a small minority, yet they gave 
 a great deal of trouble in the progress of the meeting. Before the 
 arrival of the Scottish Commissioners, Parliament and the West- 
 minster Assembly had resolved upon the abolition of prelacy in 
 
 35 
 
the Church of England, though what form of church government 
 should be adopted in its place was an open question. The English 
 Presbyterians, not having been so well trained in Presbyterian 
 polity, relied mainly upon the Scottish divines for the explanation 
 and defence of that system of church government. 
 
 The results of this Westminster Assembly's labors have been 
 of inestimable value in moulding the thought and character of mil- 
 lions of people, but uniformity of faith and worship was not se- 
 cured in Great Britain. The Confession of Faith, Catechisms, 
 Discipline and Directory for Worship were adopted only by Scot- 
 land at that time, though they have since become the doctrinal basis 
 of nearly all English-speaking Presbyterian Churches throughout 
 the world. The execution of Charles I at Whitehall was sharply 
 condemned in Scotland, because the Scotch, while contending for 
 liberty to worship God, were truly loyal to the Government. This 
 threw them into antagonism with Cromwell. "Prince Charlie" took 
 refuge among them. They proclaimed him king, with the title of 
 Charles II, and he subscribed the "Solemn League and Covenant," 
 thus becoming a "Covenanter." This act proved afterwards to 
 have been hypocricy ; and when he was restored to the government 
 of the two kingdoms, in 1660, a bitter persecution began, which 
 lasted twenty-eight years. 
 
 Suffering for the Faith.' 
 
 Two thousand Presbyterian ministers were driven from their 
 pulpits in England and Episcopacy restored. In 1661 Episcopacy 
 was again forced on Scotland. The Covenants were denounced, 
 and all who adhered to them declared to be traitors. The Marquis 
 of Argyle was beheaded and James Guthrie hanged the same year, 
 and those scenes began to be enacted throughout Scotland which 
 have ever si»ce been regarded as affording at once exhibitions of 
 the most cruel tyranny and bigotry, and of the noblest heroism in 
 devotion to religious convictions. Diocesan courts were set up, and 
 no minister was allowed to exercise his office except by their con- 
 sent. The Earl of Lauderdale was sent to the west country to 
 eniorce this system ; but four hundred ministers resigned their 
 charges rather than submit to what was in direct violation of their 
 
 36 
 
consciences and their covenant. They were then forbidden to hold 
 services, under penalty of death. Those who attended such serv- 
 ices were punished by fines and imprisonment. Bodies of troops 
 scoured the country, under such men as Sir James Turner and 
 Graham of Claverhouse, hated names in Scottish history, to break 
 up conventicles or out-of-door assemblies for worship and to kill 
 the saints of God. 
 
 "Glory to God, whose witness train, 
 Those heroes bold in faith, 
 Could smile at poverty and pain 
 And triumph even in death." 
 
 Charles II, betrayer of Scotland, and at heart a papist, was 
 succeeded by his brother, James II, who threw off all disguise and 
 openly and unscrupulously undertook to impose once more Catholi- 
 cism on Great Britain. It was his son-in-law, William of Orange, 
 with an army of Dutch Presbyterians, aided by the sturdy Scotch, 
 who defeated James at the Battle of the Boyne. The accession of 
 William and Mary to the throne was the occasion, not simply of 
 the permanent establishment of Presbyterianism in Scotland, but 
 of giving entire religious liberty to all sects and creeds throughout 
 the British Isles. 
 
 The Restoration of the Stuarts. 
 
 Having thus narrated the facts, it may not be inappropriate to 
 consider them briefly from the viewpoint of the Philosophy of His- 
 tory. The colossal blunder of history was the restoration of the 
 Stuart Dynasty in the person of Charles II to the throne of Great 
 Britain. It was not only a case of arrested development in Con- 
 stitutional Government, but it was likewise a violent reaction 
 toward autocracy. The sacrifices of blood and treasure by the 
 fathers were practically wasted — for that generation. The dire 
 effects of the reaction reached like a dead hand into the future and 
 laid its blighting touch on millions yet unborn. 
 
1. Political Consequences. 
 
 It was a wretched reaction from the growing spirit of republi- 
 can principles and human liberty. In 1215 the Barons had ex- 
 torted from King John at Runnymede the Grant of Rights, known 
 in history as the Magna Charter. The growth of liberty was given 
 a new impulse by the Petition of Rights in 1628, a very memorable 
 document, citing the Great Charter and rehearsing the legal limita- 
 tions upon the powers of the English King. The victory won by 
 the parliamentary forces against the Royalist Army of Charles I 
 resulted in the "Commonwealth" under the Protectorate of Oliver 
 Cromwell during which time Britain enjoyed the first full breath 
 of Constitutional liberty and bade fair to lead the governments of 
 earth in the cause of democracy. Unfortunately the loyalty of 
 Scotland to their Stuart monarchs led to the Restoration of the 
 dissolute Charles II which set the world backward by hundreds of 
 years. This blunder necessitated the Revolution of 1688 under 
 William, Prince of Orange, who won the Battle of the Boyne in 
 Ireland, — and as a result the Orangemen and the Papists have 
 been fighting in that unhappy isle ever since. The Restoration of 
 Charles made necessary the American Revolution in 1776. If it 
 had not taken place who can say but that America might at this 
 time have been a constituent part of a great Confederation of the 
 Anglo-Saxon world — side by side with Britain, Canada and Aus- 
 tralia. Speculation may be indulged to the extent of saying, possi- 
 bly this reaction in 1660 was the explanation of the French Revo- 
 lution in 1789 and may have been a remote cause of the World 
 War for Democracy in the Twentieth Century. 
 
 2. Religious Disaster. 
 
 It permitted and promoted a reaction toward Sectarianism. The 
 Westminster Assembly had been called by Parliament in 1643, 
 composed of various denominations, for the purpose of preparing a 
 Creed for Christendom in order to eliminate Sectarianism and 
 unify the Faith of the Nation. Its Confession of Faith — the 
 product of six years of the best scholarship of the Kingdom — was 
 unanimously adopted by Scotland. It was fast crystallizing in the 
 thought of England when this unfortunate Restoration halted its 
 
 38 
 
progress; and Charles betrayed the Scotch — who had placed him 
 on the throne — by driving 2000 Presbyterian ministers from their 
 pulpits in one day. This arrested the new Reformation and 
 promoted a reaction in favor of Ritualism, — which necessitated the 
 great spiritual movement later under Whitefield and the Wesleys 
 that gave birth to the great Evangelistic Methodist Church. 
 
 3. Three-Cornered Conflict. 
 
 In his "Outline of History" (page 776) H. G. Wells, the most 
 suggestive writer of the day, makes this striking statement : 
 
 "In 1638 Charles tried to extend the half- Protestant, half -Cath- 
 olic characteristics of the Church of England to his other Kingdom 
 of Scotland, where the secession from Catholicism had been more 
 complete, and where a non-sacerdotal, non-sacramental form of 
 Christianity, Presbyterianism, has been established as the national 
 church." 
 
 This effort, that had ended in disaster, was revived by the 
 Restoration of Charles II, which prevented the possible unity of 
 Protestantism and hopelessly complicated the conflict. Instead, 
 therefore, of a simple contest between the prelacy of Rome and 
 the democracy of Christianity, Episcopacy with its Ritualism came 
 to the aid of Rome and perpetuated a system of worship, belonging 
 more properly to Old Testament times than to the simplicity of the 
 Christian Dispensation. 
 
 This has made more difficult the task of the church in promoting 
 spiritual spontaneous worship, that appeals to the inner soul, 
 rather than spectacular ritualism which appeals to the outer senses. 
 This blunder of history did not confine its evil effects to the Brit- 
 ish Empire but reached across the sea and fanned mto a flame 
 the American Revolution, which was largely a rebellion against 
 the encroachments of Episcopacy on religious liberty in America. 
 
 V. 
 The Conflict in America. 
 
 There remained, therefore, one more battle for historic Presby- 
 terianism. Its struggle for religious liberty was transferred over- 
 
 39 
 
seas to the American provinces. The Episcopal was the estab- 
 lished Church in Virginia, New York, and other of the Colonies. 
 Presbyterians were denied the right of worship, though many of 
 them had emigrated to America for the privilege of worshiping 
 according to the dictates of their own conscience. Francis Ma- 
 Kemie, the first and ablest Presbyterian minister, was thrown into 
 prison, and others were fined and imprisoned. It was one of the 
 chief causes that led to the American Revolution. The Boston in- 
 cident of the tea was simply the occasion. Men will fight more 
 valiantly for religious principles than for any other consideration. 
 Until the time "of the Declaration of Independence the Presby- 
 terians were denied a charter of incorporation" in New York. 
 John Adams, one of the Presidents of the United States, said : 
 "In Virginia the Church of England was established by law in 
 exclusion and without toleration of any denomination. In New 
 York it displayed its essential character of intolerance. Large 
 grants of land were made to it, while other denominations could 
 obtain none; and even Dr. Rodgers* congregation in New York, 
 numerous and respected as it was, could never obtain a legal title 
 to a spot to bury its dead.'* In the same letter he adduces facts 
 to prove what he terms "the bigotry, intrigue, intolerance and per- 
 secution'* of the Establishment, and to confirm his statement that 
 the dread of Episcopacy was one of the chief causes of the revolt 
 of the Colonies against Great Britain. 
 
 The first Declaration of Independence that was published and 
 adopted at Charlotte, North Carolina, May 20, 1775, written by a 
 Presbyterian elder, Ephriam Brevard, became the model for the 
 National Declaration in 1776. The Revolution was known in 
 England as a Presbyterian Rebellion, and Horace Walpole in the 
 British Parliament said that, "Cousin America had run oflf with a 
 Presbyterian parson." 
 
 In fighting the battles of religious freedom for itself, it has 
 incidentally given this boon to all lands and creeds, but never once 
 has it imposed its principles by force on people of other creeds. 
 Its weapons are not carnal. It seeks to win by moral suasion and 
 by appeal if) hearts and consciences, based solely on the Word of 
 God. 
 
 40 
 
The eloquent language of Dr. Thomas Verner Moore, spoken 
 of Scotch Presbyterianism, might with equal force be applied to 
 the Presbyterianism of the ages: "Its acorn had been planted on 
 the misty hills by the hands of men who gathered it from spots 
 where Paul planted, Apollos watered, and John garnered the in- 
 crease ; and it was lodged in a soil that was untrodden and unsub- 
 dued by the tramp of those mailed legions of Rome that had 
 almost conquered the world. Its stalwart trunk grew on apace, 
 although the boar out of the wood did waste it, and the wild 
 beast out of the field did devour it, though the fierce storm of 
 persecution wrested with its boughs and snapped many of them 
 with a martyr's bloody fate; though the axe was laid at its root 
 again and again, and twice at least was it hewn to the very ground 
 by Saxon and Anglo-Saxon hands, yet the root still lived, and put 
 forth its undying vigor with a greener growth by this terrible 
 pruning, until it stands today, the brave old Charter-Oak of 
 Christendom, with a life so ineradicable that the gates of hell never 
 prevailed against it, and we trust never shall, until its topmost 
 boughs shall catch the earliest rays of the coming of that Jesus, 
 for whose crown and covenant so many of its offspring loved not 
 their lives even unto the death." 
 
 41 
 
CHAPTER III. # 
 
 ^rerfiptetianfem anb Calbinisfm. 
 
 The two are not identical, but are so thoroughly linked together 
 by their logical consistency, by their natural affinity and by their 
 association in the Word of God that it might be appropriately said 
 of them: The effort to separate them has but verified the state- 
 ment: "United we stand, divided we fall." Each has at times 
 maintained a precarious separate existence, but neither has 
 flourished apart from the other. As the learned Dr. Albert Barnes 
 says, "There are no permanent Arminian, Pelagian, Socinian 
 Presbyteries, Synods, General Assemblies on earth. There are no 
 permanent instances where these forms of belief or unbelief take 
 on the Presbyterian form. There are no Presbyterian forms of 
 ecclesiastical administration where they would be long retained." 
 
 Distinctive Differences. 
 
 Presbyterianism has sole . reference to the form of government 
 by "elders" — republicanism in the religious sphere. Calvinism 
 denotes a certain type of theology as opposed to Arminianism. 
 The name is a misnomer, called Calvinism after John Calvin, one of 
 its ablest expounders and defenders in the argument with Pighius. 
 Paul's reasoning in the Ninth Chapter of Romans with a theo- 
 retical Arminian was repeated in the controversy between 
 Augustine and Pelagius, and later between Calvin and Pighius, — 
 forerunner of Arminius. The system in its theological aspect has, 
 therefore, been variously designated as "Pauline," "Augustinian," 
 or "Calvinistic." On its scientific side as a world system, em- 
 bracing the whole realm of life — theology, republicanism, and a dis- 
 tinctive type of Christian living — it is justly accredited to John 
 Calvin, whom Renan, the skeptic and scholar, terms "The most 
 Christian man of his generation." 
 
 42 
 
The Philosophy of Life. 
 
 1. In the Koran, Mohammed represents "Allah," his God, as 
 plucking a piece of clay and throwing it backward over his 
 shoulder for those that are to be saved, and saying "I care not," 
 and then as plucking another piece and tossing it over his shoulder 
 for the lost and saying "I care not." This is known as Fatalism, 
 the creed of Mohammedanism, the philosophy of stoicism, the 
 theology of the Primitive Baptist, the guiding principle of cer- 
 tain individuals, such as Napoleon Bonaparte. 
 
 2. The opposite of Fatalism is that philosophy of life which 
 exalts man as the arbiter of his own destiny, as sufficient unto 
 himself, as self-determining in volition, as actuated by his own 
 feelings and influenced largely by environment rather than 
 heredity. For lack of a better name it might be called "Chance." 
 As a life system its natural affinity is with the philosophy of 
 Epicureus and the theology of Arminius. In its last analysis its 
 votaries are victims of circumstances. In their thought, "The 
 Sovereignty of God" and "Divine Providence" are not the con- 
 trolling factors of human life; but "accidents" play a prominent 
 part. Illustrating this view of life, occurred an incident years ago 
 which is still narrated in that community. A certain character — 
 as well called Jones as by any other name — ^was notorious for 
 "falling from grace." During a campmeeting conducted by 
 Father Danly and others, "Jones" again "professed religion." 
 The fact being reported to Father Danly, the eccentric Arminian 
 preacher cried out : "Kill him ! Kill him ! before he loses it !" It 
 was the subject of a jest ; but it attaches to a system which teaches 
 that the salvation of a soul depends upon the accident of death 
 occurring at a time of being "in" or "out of" grace. 
 
 3. Between these two philosophies of Fatalism and Human 
 Sufficiency stands Calvinism, which places God on the throne as 
 Sovereign, "foreordaining whatsoever cometh to pass," as "gov- 
 erning all his creatures and all their actions." It differs from 
 Fatalism in that Calvinism recognizes the free-agency of man and 
 insists on the use of human means. It differs from Human Suf- 
 ficiency in that it makes salvation depend not upon the human 
 
 43 
 
but the divine "will," and lifts salvation out of the realm of "ac- 
 cident" and into the sphere of Providence, in which the soul is 
 "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." Its 
 key-note is grace — "sovereign grace/* which "first contrived the 
 way" ; and chose us in Him, "before the foundation of the world" ; 
 enabling grace, "which gently forced us in" ; ''sustaining grace" in 
 time of temptation, or in the trial of affliction ; and sufficient grace 
 for all times, events, circumstances and conditions. ' 
 
 One being asked of what "persuasion" he was, replied as only 
 a Calvinist can — whether so classifying himself or not, — "I am 
 persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities 
 nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor 
 depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the 
 love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
 
 This definition and exposition of Calvinism are stated for the 
 purpose of demonstrating its truth, by argument and logic, beyond 
 the peradventure of a doubt, and for a defense against misrepre- 
 sentations which have been brought against it, whether by ignor- 
 ance or prejudice. If it does not "convince gainsayers," it may 
 perchance edify its adherents as to the stable foundation upon 
 which faith rests. 
 
 I. 
 
 To the Law and to the Testimony. 
 
 First of all and most potent of all is the appeal to the Scriptures 
 in the support of its truth. What is the supreme test of truth? 
 Are reason and fallible human judgments to be the final authority ; 
 or is the Word of God ? It is not a question whether it commends 
 itself to our opinions, thoughts or desires. The sole question is, 
 does the Word of God teach the system known as Calvinism? 
 
 The general terms used to express it occur so frequently that it 
 can be truthfully maintained that it is interwoven throughout the 
 whole structure of the Bible. "Predestinate" occurs six times; 
 "ordain" and "foreordain" twelve times ; "Election" twenty-seven 
 times ; and "chosen" twenty-five times ; making a total of seventy 
 times. Equivalent expressions abound so numerously that in order 
 to eliminate it effectually, it would be necessary to rewrite the 
 
 44 
 
entire Word of God. Supporting this general statement the truth 
 becomes irresistible by the following specific citations. 
 
 1. The Teaching of Christ. 
 
 It was Christ who affirmed that "many are called but few are 
 chosen," and who unhesitatingly declared that the divine provi- 
 dence affecting individuals and nations was determined and con- 
 ditioned "for the elect's sake." No Calvinist ever uttered stronger 
 Calvinism than his declaration : "No man can come unto me except 
 it were given him of my Father." "All that the Father giveth me 
 shall come to me." "And I give unto them eternal life and they 
 shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my 
 hand." (John VI and X Chaps.) 
 
 It is often said, "All men are Calvinists on their knees." Prayer 
 itself is essentially Calvinistic. Never was there a better illustra- 
 tion of this fact than the intercessory prayer of the Master at the 
 first sacrament of the Lord's Supper, in the very shadow of the 
 cross: "Father, the hour is come, glorify thy Son that thy Son 
 may glorify thee as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that 
 he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. . . . 
 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me 
 out of the world. Thine they were and thou gavest them me. . . . 
 I pray for them ; I pray not for the world but for them which thou 
 
 has given me Holy Father, keep through thine own name 
 
 those whom thou hast given me. . . . While I was with them in 
 the world I kept them in thy name ; those that thou gavest me I 
 have kept. . . . Father I will that they also whom thou has given 
 me be with me where I am," etc. (John XVII.) In this interces- 
 sory prayer Christ asserts over and over that certain were "given" 
 Him of the Father, "kept" by Him; and he could surrender His 
 trust with the proof of his fidelity in that "none of them is lost." 
 Lest any should charge Judas Iscariot as an exception he ex- 
 pressly excludes him as "The son of perdition," who was never 
 one of his chosen, but a "devil from the beginning.^' Calvinism 
 cannot be better expressed than in the language of Christ — 
 ''Given" to Christ and ''kept" by His almighty power. 
 
 45 
 
2. The Theology of Paul. 
 
 The Confession of Faith contains no stronger statement than 
 the following by the inspired Apostle : "According as He has 
 chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world that we 
 should be holy and without blame before Him in love; having 
 predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to 
 Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise 
 of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made us accepted in the 
 beloved.'* (Eph. 1:4-6. This specimen of Pauline theology is 
 the very essence of Calvinism. 
 
 3. The Testimony of Peter. 
 
 Peter, while reminding believers that "our beloved brother 
 Paul," wrote "some things hard to be understood which they that 
 are unlearned and unstable wrest as they do also the other Scrip- 
 tures unto their own destruction," was no less positive and Calvin- 
 istic in his own epistles: "Elect according to the foreknowledge 
 of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obe- 
 dience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ; Grace unto 
 you, and peace, be multiplied." "Who are kept by the power of 
 God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last 
 time." (1 Peter 1:2 and 5.)' 
 
 4. The Declaration of the Apostle of Love. 
 
 John, the beloved, is none the less emphatic and as positive in 
 his statements. In his explanation of the defection of some from 
 the faith he goes at once to the root of the matter boldly affirming : 
 "They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had 
 been of us they would no doubt have continued with us : but they 
 went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all 
 of us." (1 John 2:19.) In his description of the "New Jeru- 
 salem" with its gates of pearl and its streets of gold, its glories 
 and the happiness of its inhabitants, he makes bold the assertion 
 that none enter in "but they which are written in the Lamb's Book 
 of Life." (Rev. 21 :27.) 
 
 46 
 
5. Other Inspired Writers. 
 
 James, the brother of our Lord, affirms: "Known unto God 
 are all his works from the beginning." Jude, the briefest of all 
 writers of the New Testament, bears testimony to the same truth : 
 "Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them 
 that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus 
 Christ, and called : Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multi- 
 plied. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of 
 the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you 
 and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith 
 which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain 
 men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this 
 condemnation, ungodly men, turning from grace of our God into 
 lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. . . . 
 
 "Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to 
 present you faultless before the presence of his glory with ex- 
 ceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and 
 majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen." 
 
 Without an exception, therefore, the writers of the New Tes- 
 tament join with one accord in support of the succinct statement 
 of Luke, author of the Acts of the Apostles, that "As many as 
 were ordained to eternal life believed," (Acts 13 :48) thereby link- 
 ing the sovereign decree of God with the voluntary act of the soul 
 in the exercise of saving faith. 
 
 These are but specimens of multitudes of testimonies to the truth 
 which could be adduced — sufficient to prove any proposition in the 
 range of thought — and if they are not convincing it is useless to 
 appeal to the Scriptures as authority. 
 
 Although an appeal to Scripture is thus sufficient in itself, yet 
 certain other considerations will be adduced simply as corrob- 
 orative testimony. 
 
 IL 
 
 The Logic of Philosophy. 
 
 No effort is attempted to prove the separate "Five Points of 
 Calvinism" for lack of space, and for the other sufficient reason 
 
 47 
 
that the system is consistent and the proof of any one carries with 
 it necssarily the others; so that the method of treatment for the 
 sake of brevity is rather of the system as a whole. 
 
 The sovereignty of God, which is the fundamental essence of 
 Calvinism, is necessitated by the nature and the attributes of God. 
 
 1. Foreordination and foreknowledge imply each other. If any 
 event is foreknown it is because it was fixed and unchangeable. 
 There is no escaping this conclusion except by denying fore- 
 knowledge itself, which contradicts the Scripture — "Known unto 
 God are all His works from the beginning of the world." Adam 
 Clark, the ablest exponent of Arminianism, attempts to avoid the 
 difficulty by saying, "God holds in abeyance some things which He 
 does not choose to know." This involves two greater difficulties. 
 (1) God must necessarily first know all things before He could 
 choose to discriminate. (2) It would be unworthy of His moral 
 character to avoid responsibility by voluntary ignorance. 
 
 2. The immutability of God necessitates a plan for the universe 
 which admits of no change. Any modification would argue after- 
 thought and imperfection. Limited wisdom and mutability of 
 decree would divest God of His nature and attributes. William 
 the Silent was driven to Calvinism as a refuge, because he could 
 not worship a God without a plan and with limitations of his 
 perfections. 
 
 3. Propbecy is in itself an unanswerable argument for the fixed 
 decrcees of God. Only that which is fixed and will surely come to 
 pass can be predicted. Unless the future is predetermined, how 
 can any prophet foresee and foretell ? Were the prophets better in- 
 formed than the Sovereign Ruler of the universe ? The decrees of 
 God are inseparably linked together according to inspired revela- 
 tion. "Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called : 
 and whom He called them He also justified, and whom He justi- 
 fied them He also glorified." The same parties are predestinated, 
 called, justified and glorified — four links in the golden chain of 
 decrees which reach from eternity past to eternity future. Not a 
 link in the chain can be broken without doing violence not simply to 
 revealed truth, but to the character of God himself. 
 
 48 
 
Conditional Decrees a Contradiction. 
 
 Even Arminians ordinarily admit the force of the truth, but 
 would void its force by making the decrees conditional on faith 
 and limited to time, and consequently subject to change. Con- 
 trary to the statement that faith is the moving cause of predesti- 
 nation, Scripture affirms that it is God's own good pleasure and not 
 on account of anything in the subject of the decrees. Contrary to 
 decrees originating in time. Scripture affirms that it was "from 
 the foundation of the world." Conditional decrees would be a 
 contradiction in terms. Decrees which change with changing cir- 
 cumstances are only divine attitudes, moods or impulses, and not 
 decrees in any sense. If it be argued that predestination is based 
 upon foreknowledge simply, then it becomes a work entirely un- 
 necessary; for if foreseen, then the matter is already a certainty, 
 and "predestination" would be a farce in determining that which 
 for some reason is already fixed. 
 
 Conditional eternal life is a contradiction in terms. If "con- 
 ditional," it is not "eternal." If "eternal," it is not conditional. 
 Christ says, "I give unto them eternal life." The Calvinistic sys- 
 tem therefore is not only strictly Scriptural, but consistently logical. 
 
 III. 
 
 Calvinism Reinforced by Science aud Literature. 
 
 From the most unexpected sources, confirmation of the truth 
 is now coming. Skeptics have attacked with all the force of their 
 ungodly scholarship, and the criminal classes have manifested a 
 bitter hatred of Calvinism which can be explained only as a 
 manifestation of the "carnal mind which is enmity against God," 
 and is therefore an indirect proof of its truth. Such opposition of 
 unregenerate human nature is in keeping with the divine statment : 
 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways 
 my ways, saith the Lord. For as the Heavens are higher than 
 the earth so are my ways than your ways, — and my thoughts than 
 your thoughts." (Isa. 55 : 7-S.) It is strikingly significant, there- 
 fore, that unconsciously and unintentionally such eminent scientists 
 as Charles Darwin and Herbert Spenser, in their conclusions as 
 
 49 
 
to the laws of heredity and evolution should become blind witnesses 
 to a philosophy of the universe, which is strangely consistent with 
 some of the phases of Calvinism. It is still more significant that 
 only Calvinism can save their system of philosophy from the 
 pitfall of hopeless fatalism. The reign of law in nature precludes 
 and excludes all possibilities of chance. Calvinism is that system 
 of philosophy which exalts the sovereignty of God in nature and 
 in grace and which prevents nature — and sinful human nature as 
 a constituent part — from becoming a blind machine working out 
 its inevitable consequences according to immutable laws. No other 
 system except Calvinism can take into account the facts and laws 
 of the universe and evolve a theory which gives hope to a chaotic 
 world and at the same time glorify the God of nature and of grace. 
 
 Literature Assents. 
 
 As a specimen Robert Louis Stevenson, writing to a young man 
 who chooses art as a profession makes this singular statement: 
 "Lastly we come to those vocations which are at once decisive and 
 precise; to the men who are born with the love of pigments, the 
 passion of drawing, the gift of music, or the impulse to create with 
 words, just as other and perhaps the same men are born with the 
 love of hunting, or the sea or horses, or the turning lathe. These 
 are predestined ; if a man love the labor of any trade apart from 
 any question of success or fame, the gods have called him." 
 
 Even poetry lends its rhymes in approval. Speaking of the 
 inborn inclination of two brothers, it affirms : 
 
 "You may grind them in the self-same mill, 
 You may bind them heart and brow, 
 The poet will follow the rainbow still, 
 The other will follow the plow." 
 
 To its support Calvinism is the only system which can summon 
 Scripture, Philosophy, Logic, Science and Literature. It has been 
 assailed by ignorance and by scholarship alike, but it has never 
 been shaken. It has been misrepresented by passion and by pre- 
 judice, and much of the opposition is directed not against Cal- 
 vinism but against caricatures of it. It is not more unpopular than 
 
 50 
 
many other plain teachings of the Word of God, and we may 
 safely leave its vindication to the Scriptures and with the God 
 of grace and of providence. 
 
 IV. 
 
 The Calvinism of Presbyterianism. 
 
 With those who caricature it and make a man of straw for the 
 pleasure of demolishing it, argument is worse than useless. For 
 the instruction of our own people and to correct misapprehensions, 
 it may be said, Calvinism is not what is charged by its enemies, 
 but it is what is believed by its advocates. The exposition of Cal- 
 vinism as held by Presbyterians will make plain our teaching and 
 serve at the same time to answer some of the popular objections 
 to it. 
 
 1. Calvinism, Not Fatalism. 
 
 The objection that Calvinism teaches that some men were made 
 to be saved and others to be lost, irrespective of their actions and 
 character, is a caricature of the truth. That is fatalism pure and 
 simple, repudiated by Presbyterians, and as much condemned by 
 them as by any other class. The Confession of Faith emphasizes 
 the use of means, which distinguishes Calvinism from Fatalism. 
 The objection is most effectually answered by the following 
 quotations from the Confession : "God from all eternity did by the 
 most wise and holy counsel of His own will freely and unchange- 
 ably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby neither 
 is God the author of sin ; nor is violence offered to the will of the 
 creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second cause taken 
 away, but rather established." "As God hath appointed the elect 
 unto glory, so hath He, by the eternal and most free purpose of 
 His will, foreordained all the means thereunto. Wherefore they 
 who are elected being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ, are 
 effectually called unto faith in Christ by his Spirit working in due 
 season; are justified, adopted and sanctified, and kept by His 
 power through faith unto salvation.'* 
 
 Nowhere does the Confession of Faith represent that God 
 created any souls unto damnation. On the contrary, Calvinism 
 
 51 
 
contemplates men as already lost by their own sin; and the 
 object of predestination is to rescue from death "a great 
 multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and 
 kindreds and peoples and tongues." "The rest of mankind" were 
 "passed by" and left to the consequences of "their sin." No de- 
 cree of God constituted them sinners, and it cannot be claimed 
 that God was under obligation to save them from the consequences 
 of their own sinful nature and wicked deeds. If salvation were 
 a matter of obligation it would not be of grace. If the question 
 is raised, why any are "chosen by God" it might be answered, it is 
 because men in their wilfulness and depravity would not "choose" 
 God. Left to themselves without the saving grace of God every 
 individual of the lost race would have refused the offer of mercy 
 and the whole race would have been inevitably irretrievably lost; 
 so that Christ would have died in vain. Therefore the very object 
 of predestination is to prevent the universal damnation of a lost 
 race. 
 
 If the objection be raised, why God did not save all the lost, it 
 could be answered that it would at once eliminate all motives to a 
 holy life. If God should decree a whole lost world to salvation, it 
 would take away all freedom of choice and all moral character. If 
 the question be asked what influenced God in his distinction be- 
 tween lost souls, it must be answered that God himself has not 
 revealed His secret purposes, and His creatures must leave some 
 things to the wisdom, holiness and justice of God. "Who can by 
 searching find out God or know the Almighty unto perfection?" 
 Where human reason fails adoration begins — "Oh the depth of 
 the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! How un- 
 searchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out !" 
 
 2. The Sovereignty of God and the Free-Agency of Man. 
 
 The objection is often raised that divine Sovereignty and human 
 free-agency are contradictory. Some under constraint of choosing 
 between them reject the Sovereignty of God because in their 
 judgment it would destroy free-agency. Calvinists are not com- 
 pelled to choose between them, but accept both as true, because the 
 Word of God teaches one as truly as the other. "Holy men of 
 
 52 
 
God, who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost," not only 
 saw no contradiction between them but did not hesitate to join 
 them together in the same text, as for example : 
 
 Christ asserts in John 6:37, "All that the Father giveth me 
 shall come" — Divine Sovereignty — and adds in the same text, 
 "And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." — human 
 free agency. Paul unhesitatingly joins them together : "Work out 
 your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which 
 worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." 
 (Phil. 2, 12-13.) 
 
 Peter declares the crucifixion was "by the determinate counsel 
 and foreknowledge of God," and yet asserts their free agency in 
 that His murderers did it "by wicked hands." If there were con- 
 flict between the two, then the Sovereignty of God in foreordain- 
 ing the crucifixion "by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge 
 of God" would have relieved the agents of all responsibility and 
 it would not have been "by wicked hands." It is evident then 
 that an event may be foreordained without in the slightest aflfecting 
 free-agency. 
 
 Calvinists who accept the two because both are taught in the 
 word readily admit the difificulty of reconciling the two by reason 
 of the limitations of the human mind. 
 
 Illustrations. 
 
 At best, illustrations by way of analogy are all the explanation 
 which can be given of some of the deep things of God. Common 
 table salt is necessary to seasoning and health in articles of diet, 
 yet it is composed of two deadly poisons. Separate them and 
 discard either and the other is a menace to life itself. The orbit 
 of earth is the resultant of two forces diametrically opposite. 
 Separate them and the centrifugal force would cause the earth 
 to fly off into space at a tangent. The centripetal on the other 
 hand would hurl it into the sun to its utter destruction. Under the 
 influence of the two combined it moves safely in its appointed orbit. 
 In like manner human life is controlled by two influences seemingly 
 contradictory, according to human judgment. Destroy either, and 
 the consequences are fatal. Destroy the free-agency of man and 
 
 53 
 
he is the victim of inexorable fate. Eliminate the Sovereignty of 
 God and man is as inevitably the victim of capricious chance. 
 Under the combined influence of the two, the soul moves har- 
 moniously in its orbit of righteousness. 
 
 The Divine and Human. 
 
 The plan of salvation has its divine and its human aspect. 
 From the divine standpoint every human life is a plan of God. 
 All the circumstances, events and actions in the life of the indi- 
 vidual are arranged and determined according to a divine plan, — 
 the dictates of infinite wisdom for the moral government of the 
 universe. Nothing can thwart the loving purpose of God. Pre- 
 destination in eternity past, providence in the working of the plan, 
 the welfare of the universe and the glory of God, are "parts of 
 one stupendous whole." 
 
 An appeal to human experience surely confirms the truth. Who 
 determined whether you should be born in a Christian or a heathen 
 land ? Who determined whether you should have the environment 
 of godly parentage and Christian influences or be influenced by an 
 ungodly atmosphere? Who influenced the Holy Ghost to re- 
 generate your soul by a new birth or else to leave you to the con- 
 sequences of sin? Whose divine grace has transformed your life? 
 Yet notwithstanding these gracious, determining influences, com- 
 pelling you to say, "By the grace of God I am what I am," you 
 know absolutely in your experience there was no power that forced 
 your will, and that you were perfectly free in all your actions. 
 From the human standpoint each man acts according to his im- 
 pulses and motives, utterly regardless of any influence emanating 
 from his knowledge of God's plans or purposes. Predestination, 
 however, is not the guide of life. It is the secret purpose of God. 
 Man acts by faith and "works out his own salvation" as volun- 
 tarily as if nothing had been revealed of God's decrees. By the 
 use of the means of grace he "makes his calling and election sure," 
 and only as he responds to the demands upon him for a holy life 
 can he assure and comfort himself that his name is in the Lamb's 
 Book of Life among the elect. 
 
 54 
 
3. Influence On Moral Character. 
 
 It is objected that Calvinism destroys moral character and all 
 inducements to holiness. The objection is contrary to the express 
 statements of Scripture and to the facts as revealed in religious 
 experience and evidenced by the observations of men. Scripture 
 is very explicit in affirming that the subjects of divine grace are 
 "predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, that He 
 might be the first born among many brethren." "According as He 
 hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world that 
 we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having 
 predestinated us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to 
 Himself." "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus 
 unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should 
 walk in them." According to the inspired Word, therefore, not 
 only destiny but character is also the object of God's decrees. 
 
 License to sin in view of fore-ordination would turn the grace 
 of God into lasciviousness, "prostitute" the heavenly calling and 
 disobey the injunction to "walk worthy of your vocation." For- 
 tunately this test of character can be safely subjected to the 
 judgments of men. An Arminian Bishop on a railway train to a 
 small circle of hearers was denouncing Calvinism as heretical in 
 theology and evil in results. A young Presbyterian elder listening 
 to this stereotyped attack upon Calvinism could resist no longer 
 and modestly inquired : "What is your opinion of the character of 
 the Presbyterian people?" Suddenly thrown on the defensive the 
 self-complacent Bishop answered : "I admit there are no finer 
 body of Christian people in the world than the Presbyterians; 
 but as a matter of fact they are better than their creed." Tq 
 which the modest young elder replied : "I do not so understand 
 the teachings of Christ who declared, *A good tree cannot bring 
 forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good frtiit 
 . . . wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.' If Calvinism 
 is evil how can it bear such splendid fruit?" The argument is 
 unanswerable. Every creed in the world "brings forth fruit after 
 its kind." The saying of Christ, that "Wisdom is justified of her 
 children" has never been contradicted. 
 
 55 
 
The character of Presbyterians is the best answer which can 
 be given to the charge of immorality as to the tendency of Cal- 
 vinism. Jas. Anthony Froude and other scholars and writers 
 have borne willing and unmistakable testimony to the character of 
 the Scotch Covenanters, English Puritans, French Huguenots, 
 Dutch Calvinists and Italian Waldensees — Calvinists all. All 
 faiths, creeds and sects are unhesitatingly challenged to duplicate 
 these products of Calvinism in Christian character, in moral 
 courage, in good works, in missionary operations — by any test or 
 standard of living, chosen in any sphere of action. 
 
 4. Calvinism Vindicates the Justice of God. 
 
 The objection that election is a reflection on God's justice re- 
 quires no answer and the divine character needs no vindication. 
 The Ninth Chapter of Romans is an inspired answer, which by 
 hundreds of years anticipated and demolished the objection. Cal- 
 vinism stands alike for the defense of the truth and of the character 
 of God, but is not careful to answer any assault on the Word or 
 on the justice of God. It speaks when the Word speaks and is 
 silent when it is silent, with no inclination to be "wise above that 
 which is written." With John Milton it is content to "assert 
 eternal providence and justify the ways of God to men." 
 
 An objector once went to Charles Spurgeon with the question: 
 "If I am not one of the elect and I earnestly desire salvation, is 
 there any hope for me?" To which Mr. Spurgeon made the 
 unanswerable reply: "If you earnestly desire salvation enough to 
 seek God's mercy, it is the unmistakable evidence of your calling 
 and election. If you do not desire it, why should you cavil at God's 
 not giving you that which you do not want?" 
 
 No objector would be so bold as to claim that God is under any 
 obligation to save any of the lost. If under no obligation to 
 extend mercy to any, then no injustice is done, if some or all are 
 left to the consequences of their own sin. Was any injustice done 
 to the fallen angels because God in his Sovereign grace passed 
 them by and provided salvation for lost men? No injustice is 
 practiced by a creditor exercising clemency to some debtor and 
 exacting full payment from others. Human governments pro- 
 
 56 
 
vide that a chief magistrate may according to his judgment, 
 exercise clemency in behalf of some criminals and leave others to 
 the consequences of their deeds. If such discrimination is lodged 
 in the hands of fallible human rulers, shall we limit the preroga- 
 tive of the Almighty? Calvinists so exalt the divine character as 
 to justify them in meeting any objection with the challenge : 
 "Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" If others conjure 
 up difficulties, let them take these to the revealed Word of God as 
 the arbiter of controversies, or on their knees to God himself, and 
 their difficulties will either vanish or else their faith so strengthened 
 as to commit themselves and their burden to the God who is "in- 
 finite, eternal and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holi- 
 ness, justice, goodness and truth." 
 
 Why Calvinism Revealed. 
 
 The query is sometimes raised : If predestination is not the 
 guide of life, why should the Word of God challenge faith to 
 wrestle with these "deep things of God?" Many considerations 
 might be argued ; a few must suffice. It is one of the strongest 
 evidences of the truth of the Word. If it had been a human 
 composition it would have sedulously avoided Calvinism which is 
 contrary to the thoughts and impulses of human nature. Cal- 
 vinism is a divine revelation. It transcends human conceptions. 
 Calvinism takes all the pride out of men. It exalts God and places 
 man in the dust of humility. It confronts him with the truth 
 that he is lost by his own act but saved by grace. "Not of works 
 lest any man should boast." Calvinism allows the sinner no part 
 nor credit in his own salvation but magnifies the grace of God not 
 only as manifest in his experiences, but as according to the eternal 
 purpose of mercy. Others may claim some credit for choosing or 
 some merit for persevering, but Calvinists, of all others, will in 
 heaven cast their crowns at His feet in unspeakable gratitude and 
 adoring love, saying : "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto 
 thy name be the honor and the glory." To them heaven as the 
 gift of God's free grace will be sweeter and the Saviour who 
 loved and chose them "from the foundation of the world" will be 
 more precious throughout the endless ages of eternity. 
 
 57 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ^rerfjpteriani£;m anb Cfturcfj ^olitp. 
 
 The Acts of the Apostles is the first chapter of the history of the 
 Church under the Christian dispensation. Although not specially 
 designed to teach Church Government, yet the principles and 
 precedents furnished therein by apostolic precepts and practices 
 are so numerous and specific, that it alone would be sufficient to 
 reveal the constitution of the Church, if there were access to no 
 other inspired writings. Notwithstanding the fact that the voice 
 of inspiration was never heard after the first century, yet the 
 advocates of Prelacy and Congregationalism appeal alike to the 
 testimony of the post-apostolic age in support of their respective 
 systems. 
 
 The Historical Appeal vs. Scriptural. 
 
 Mr. Litton, of the Episcopal Church, quoted by Bannerman in 
 his "Church of Christ," makes the remarkable statement that the 
 claims of Episcopacy are strong so long as the appeal is to the 
 post-apostolic age, and become weak only when the appeal is made 
 to Scripture. Canon Venables, in the Encyclopedia Briiannica, 
 article Episcopacy, furnishes the following still more explicit tes- 
 timony to the same effect: "It may be desirable here to remove 
 the confusion which may be produced by the ambiguous use of 
 the word 'Bishop' ... In its fundamental sense of an 'overseer,* 
 'inspector,' it was not originally a term of office at all. When it 
 appears as such in the New Testament, it is simply synonymous 
 with presbyter, that officer of the church being called indifferently 
 by one or the other name." After establishing this fact by the 
 ordinary Biblical proofs, thereby indirectly testifying to the 
 scripturalness of Presbyterianism, he frankly admits, "Any con- 
 clusion, therefore, drawn from the use of the term bishop in the 
 New Testament, as to the existence of the episcopal office, would 
 be fallacious", — claiming for Episcopacy nothing more than 
 
 58 
 
"traces in apostolic times." Concerning its divine origin, he 
 speaks unequivocally : "Do we intend that Episcopacy stands on 
 the same level as Baptism and the Lord's Supper as a direct 
 ordinance of Christ? . . . Though asserted as an unquestionable 
 fact by many learned defenders of Episcopacy, we may safely 
 assert that there is not a trace in the New Testament." 
 
 In like manner Congregationalists have appealed to the testi- 
 mony of Mosheim, that every local church in the post-apostolic age 
 was independent. If deemed necessary, Presbyterianism might 
 appeal as confidently as any to the post-apostolic age. That the 
 government of the church was essentially Presbyterian for the first 
 century and part of the second, is the only explanation of the 
 conflicting testimony of Church historians ; — one party magnifying 
 the authority of Presbytery in the post-apostolic age into Epis- 
 copacy, the other magnifying the liberty of Presbytery into Inde- 
 pendency. 
 
 The Scriptural Appeal. 
 
 In the eflFort to establish the scriptural character of the Pres- 
 byterian form of government the argument will be based on the 
 Council at Jerusalem, recorded in the fifteenth chapter of the 
 Acts of the Apostles. The principles of ecclesiastical polity therein 
 contained necessitate certain other kindred principles, which, taken 
 together, form a perfect system, and being tested by Scripture for 
 confirmation, becomes impregnable against every assault. 
 
 The Church is indebted for this Council to the false teachers of 
 circumcision. Just as the sneer of the Jews, "This man receiveth 
 sinners," gave to the church and the world the beautiful parable 
 of the Prodigal Son, so the Church is indebted for the Council to 
 the heresy, "Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, 
 ye cannot be saved." It is the tendency of human nature in every 
 age to attach great value to external ordinances or humanly de- 
 vised means. "Except ye be circumcised," is but a tie linking the 
 human nature of the apostolic age with the human nature of the 
 present, which is still making similar demands for carnal ordi- 
 nances : Except ye be immersed according to our mode, ye are not 
 baptized ; except ye be confirmed by a bishop in the line of aposto- 
 
 59 
 
lie succession, ye cannot receive the Holy Ghost; except ye be 
 absolved by a priest, or anointed with extreme unction, "ye cannot 
 be saved !" These three demands, legitimate successors of "Except 
 ye be circumcised," — though varying in degree, and only the last 
 attaining unequivocally the alternative of "ye cannot be 
 saved," — yet agree in one thing, virtually unchurching all other 
 communions except their own, and thereby casting considerable 
 doubt on the prospects of others entering the kingdom of heaven 
 in glory. 
 
 Inordinate stress laid upon an outward ordinance is presumptive 
 evidence of its human origin, or human corruption of the divine. 
 Under the pressure of such teaching, the Council at Jerusalem 
 becomes a necessity for the suppression of error and vindication 
 of truth. It is immaterial who were "they" that appointed the 
 delegation. The trouble arose at Antioch: a delegation from 
 thence obtained audience (Acts 15:12) before the body of 
 apostles and elders, who came together for the express purpose of 
 considering the matter (Acts 15 :6). A debate was held (verse 7) ; 
 a decision was reached ; and the decrees were published, not simply 
 at Antioch, but delivered to all the churches to keep (Acts 16:4) 
 
 This Council, Keystone of Church Polity. 
 
 This Assembly is of special importance because it is the key- 
 stone in any system of Church polity. If the Prelatic interpre- 
 tation of this Council be destroyed, the Prelatic system of infal- 
 lible Councils falls with it to the ground. Undermine the Con- 
 gregational theory and there is no warrant for any voluntary asso- 
 ciation, giving advice. If it be not a higher court, according to 
 Presbyterian theory, it. would be difficult to exhibit any warrant 
 for a higher court than the Presbytery of Antioch, which laid 
 hands on Paul and Barnabas, and commissioned them to the 
 foreign missionary work, or the Presbytery at Lystra which 
 ordained Timothy. 
 
 The multitude of theories which have prevailed in regard to the 
 nature of this Council are reducible to three, according to the 
 threefold classification of Church polity — Prelatic, Congregational 
 and Presbyterian. All other systems are but variations, modifica- 
 
 60 
 
tions, or combinations of these three simple elementary forms. 
 Consequently, this Council at Jerusalem must have been : 
 
 I. Either an inspired Council, according to the Prelatic type ; 
 
 II. Or, exactly the opposite, only a voluntary association accord- 
 ing to the Congregational theory ; 
 
 III. Or, else something intermediate between them, a repre- 
 sentative Assembly convened as a higher court, to hear appeals, 
 interpret and apply the law of Christ, according to the Presby- 
 terian system. Each system, to a certain extent, stands or falls 
 with the above. 
 
 I. 
 
 The Prelatic Theory Untenable. 
 
 An Inspired Council Superfluous. 
 
 It could not have been the first, because inspiration was not 
 needed to determine a case which had already been determined, 
 both by inspiration and the providence of God, admitting the 
 Gentiles into the Church without circumcision. If inspiration had 
 been needed, there was no necessity to search for the mind of the 
 Spirit at Jerusalem among the apostles. Was there not an apostle 
 at Antioch, one "not a whit behind the very chiefest," who could 
 have given an inspired utterance? Being himself "the Apostle of 
 the Gentiles," was he not possessed of the mind of the Spirit touch- 
 ing the very class for whose sake he is specially called to be an 
 apostle? There could have been no necessity for a college of 
 inspired apostles, unless it be claimed that the inspiration of a 
 collective body is more authoritative than the inspiration of an 
 individual. But the very nature of inspiration is a denial of the 
 latter assumption. If they were guided by human wisdom, then 
 a "multitude of counsellors" might be required for "safety." But 
 from the very nature of inspiration, what God reveals to one 
 man is as authoritative as if revealed to an assembled universe. 
 The authority imparted by inspiration consists in the person 
 speaking, — the Holy Ghost,— and not in the number who are made 
 the medium of communication. If the latter statement be 
 erroneous, then the inspiration of the Epistles of Paul and all 
 
 61 
 
Scripture must be impugned, because uttered through the medium 
 of single individuals. When has inspiration ever chosen a multi- 
 tude to become the vehicle of conveying truth ? What fundamental 
 truth of the inspired word was revealed by a college of apostles, or 
 by any other multitude? 
 
 The very method of procedure is a denial of the inspiration 
 theory. If the "apostles and elders" coming together to "con- 
 sider the matter," was in reality in order to consult the oracle of 
 inspiration, there could have been no disputing and no difference 
 of opinion. The truth would have been revealed simultaneously 
 to the whole assembly. Or, if one person in the number had 
 been made the vehicle of conveying it to the others, no sooner 
 had he spoken, than there would have been universal assent. 
 The very opposite, however, were the facts of the case. It was 
 only after "much disputing," consulting the word of God in the 
 prophecies concerning the Gentiles, and the providence of God in 
 admitting them without circumcision, that a conclusion was 
 reached in accordance with the mind of the Spirit. But, does not 
 the Council claim inspiration in that expression, "It seemed good 
 to the Holy Ghost and to us"? The very union of their own 
 names with that of the Holy Ghost forbids the theory of in- 
 spiration. 
 
 What, then, must be understood by the expression, "It seemed 
 good to the Holy Ghost"? In other words, how did they learn 
 what "seemed good to the Holy Ghost" ? Not by a new revelation 
 of the Spirit, but manifestly by consulting the inspired utterances 
 of prophecy touching the Gentiles (Acts 15:15-18), interpreted 
 by the providence of God in admitting them in uncircumcision 
 (Acts 15 :7-ll, 14). ' The record shows that exactly this was done 
 and nothing more. Why demand a new revelation, when the 
 mind of the Spirit could be learned by one ample and previously 
 given? It was, therefore, by searching the Scriptures that they 
 discovered what "seemed good to the Holy Ghost." If they had 
 come together to inquire of an oracle, and "hear what God the 
 Lord will speak," they would have published the decree simply, 
 *It seemed good to the Holy Ghost." If a Church court cannot be 
 guided to conclusions in accordance with the mind of the Spirit 
 
 G2 
 
except by inspiration, then the opening prayer of a church court, 
 praying for the guidance of the Spirit, becomes a mockery. If, 
 then, it cannot be claimed that this was an inspired Council, 
 prelacy must look elsewhere in search of a model and warrant for 
 its pretended infallible Councils, and for authority to alter the 
 law of Christ and legislate for the Church. 
 
 11. 
 Advisory Council, Inadequate. 
 
 It could not have been, according to the second theory, simply 
 a voluntary association giving advice, considering the composition 
 of the council, the authority of its decrees, and the extent of its 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 1. We join issue with the Congregationalists squarely upon the 
 composition of that assembly. Their argument is based upon three 
 expressions in the record : "the multitude", of verse 12, "with the 
 whole Church," of verse 22, and "brethren," of verse 23. It seems 
 almost ludicrous to base an argument on verse 12, "all the multi- 
 tude kept silence"! Therefore, because "the multitude" were 
 present and "kept silence," they are entitled to become a constitu- 
 ent part of every church court, and not ''keep silence" ! In sending 
 up the case from Antioch the "brethren" are not mentioned as a 
 constituent part of the Council, whose decision is asked. It is 
 simply said certain "should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles 
 and elders about this question." In giving the composition of the 
 Assembly, nothing is said of any "brethren," but simply "the 
 apostles and ciders came together for to consider of this matter." 
 In publishing the decrees among the churches, nothing is said of 
 any "brethren" having participated in decreeing, but simply "de- 
 livered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the 
 apostles and elders. Is it merely accidental that these two classes, 
 and no others, are said to have been consulted by Antioch, to have 
 come together to consider and to have ordained the decrees? 
 Congregationalists utterly fail to discover any others in the com- 
 position of that assembly than "apostles and elders,'' "The multi- 
 
 63 
 
tude kept silence," "the whole Church" simply acquiesced in the 
 action of the assembly, and the "brethren" are only the "apostles 
 and elders" combined. 
 
 2. It is equally easy to overthrow the voluntary association theo- 
 ry by an examination of the authority of the decrees. The lan- 
 guage is too emphatic and unmistakable to be regarded as the 
 language of advice. Advice may be offered, but has never yet 
 been offered, in such terms as, "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost 
 and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary 
 things/* Unless human language meant then exactly the opposite 
 of its present meaning, advice offered and decrees ordained must 
 be regarded as contradictory. Advice may be submitted for con- 
 sideration, but never "delivered for to keep." "Lay upon you no 
 greater burden," etc., and "delivered them the decrees for to keep, 
 that were ordained of apostles and elders which were at Jerusa- 
 lem," is the language of authority. 
 
 3. Still another feature of this Council is not in keeping with the 
 Congregational independent theory. Does the decision affect 
 Antioch simply? By no means. Instead of being published at 
 Antioch simply, they are published with authority throughout 
 Christendom (Acts 16:4). Recognizing no frigid isolated inde- 
 pendency, but, on the contrary, acting on the principle of the unity 
 of the Church — ^that what is binding on one is equally binding on 
 all — the decrees are delivered to all the churches to keep. The 
 decision of the Council affected every church as truly as Antioch. 
 Considering the composition of the body, the authority of its de- 
 crees, and the far-reaching sweep of its jurisdiction, it could not 
 have been a voluntary association. Congregationalism, therefore, 
 must look elsewhere for authority to enact the grand farce of 
 giving advice. 
 
 III. 
 
 Representative Assembly. 
 
 If neither the first nor the second theory can be accepted, let us 
 view this Council as a Representative Assembly, according to the 
 system of Presbyterianism. This follows from the nature of the 
 destructive conditional syllogism. If truth lies between the three, 
 
 64 
 
to disprove two is equivalent to the establishment of the third. It 
 may be further demonstrated from the composition, "apostles and 
 elders," the former being teaching elders, and the latter, at least 
 including ruling elders, exactly the composition of every Scriptural 
 court in its normal condition. Arguments might be adduced from 
 the object of the Assembly, "came together for to consider of this 
 matter," which was a case of appeal or reference; from the 
 method of procedure, — the decision being reached by consulting the 
 Word of God as the sole authority ; from the authority of its decis- 
 ions, "decrees," "ordained," "delivered them the decrees for to 
 keep," and laid upon them as a "necessary" "burden"; from its 
 jurisdiction, — acting not simply for Antioch, but for all the 
 churches ; from the harmony of this theory with the whole system 
 of Presbyterianism ; and from the universal support of the prin- 
 ciples embodied in this Council by Scripture, ranging through the 
 whole Bible. 
 
 Principles of Church Polity. 
 
 Attention is directed next to the principles of Church polity ex- 
 hibited by this Council, confirmed by an appeal to other Scriptures, 
 — serving to completely establish the Presbyterian theory of the 
 Council. 
 
 Government by Rulers. 
 
 1. Contrary to Congregationalism, this Council exhibits the 
 government of the Church in the hands of rulers, and not in the 
 hands of a mixed multitude of men, women, and children, 
 where passion and prejudice sway alternate scepters. But instead 
 of such confusion, this Council exhibits the ''apostles and elders" 
 in the very act of ruling, considering and deciding a precedent, 
 — involving principles affecting all the churches. It exhibits all the 
 churches in the attitude of recognizing the authority of their 
 rulers in the meekness of submission and the alacrity of obedience. 
 This principle of rule exhibited, tested by Scripture, is abundantly 
 sustained as follows: 
 
 (1) The names by which the officers of the Church are called 
 are the very symbols of rule, the badges of authority. The elders 
 were the "rulers of the synagogue," and, according to Neander and 
 
 66 
 
others, were " transferred to the Christian church from the Jewish 
 synagogue." In the New Testament, wherever "presbyters" 
 occurs, only the connection can determine whether it relates to 
 elders of the synagogue or of the church. The office and the name 
 change places from synagogue to church, but retain the same rela- 
 tive significance. Interchangeable with presbyters is used bishops 
 (Acts 20:17, 28), by which the same officers were called among 
 the Gentiles. Concerning the latter, Neander remarks: "The 
 appellation, bishops — overseers — over the whole Church and over 
 all its affairs ; just as in the Attic civil administration, those who 
 were sent out to organize the states dependent on Athens were 
 called bishops ; and just as this name seems to have become gener- 
 ally current in the language of civil life to denote any kind of gov- 
 erning superintendence in the public administration" (Neander*s 
 Ch. Hist., Vol. I. Page 184). 
 
 (2) Scriptural distinctions imply two classes, the rulers and the 
 ruled. "He that ruleth with diligence," etc. (Rom. 12:8). "Gov- 
 ernments" (1 Cor. 12:28). "Ruleth" and "governments" are 
 terms which demand the corresponding terms "ruled" and "gov- 
 ernors," or else they are unmeaning and misleading. 
 
 (3) The direction to rulers, how to rule, imply two classes. 
 "The elders which are among you, I exhort , . . Feed the 
 flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof 
 not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a 
 ready mind : neither as being lords over God's heritage," etc. 
 (I Peter 5:1-3). "Elders that rule well," etc. (I Tim. 5:17). 
 ''Take heed, therefore to yourselves and to all the flock, 
 over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers," 
 etc. (Acts: 20:28). These directions are not addressed to the 
 whole church, forbidding the majority from ''lording" it over the 
 minority, which would have been the case and the danger if all 
 shared in ruling, but they are addressed to the elders. They are 
 unmeaning, if there are no rulers, and unnecessary, if there are 
 none ruled. 
 
 (4) The instructions to the ruled, concerning their attitude 
 toward their rulers, imply such distinction. "Know them which 
 labor among you and are over you in the Lord," etc. (1 Thess. 
 
 66 
 
5:12). "Remember them which have the rule over you," etc. 
 (Heb. 13:7). "Obey them that have the rule over you, and sub- 
 mit yourselves," etc. (Heb. 13:17). The very word employed 
 to express the ruling authority of the elders is the same denoting 
 parental government of children. One of the very qualifications 
 of rulers in the Church is experience in ruling in their family, 
 "One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in sub- 
 jection with all gravity. For if a man know not how to rule his 
 own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?" 
 (I Tim. 3:4, 5). Such exhortations are inexplicable, if no such 
 distinctions exist. 
 
 (5) The plurality of officers in every church cannot be ex- 
 plained on any other supposition than as rulers. "Ordained them 
 elders in every church," etc. (Acts 14:23). "Ordain elders in 
 every city," etc. (Titus 1:5). "To all the saints in Christ Jesus, 
 which are at Philippi with the bishops and deacons" (Phil. 1 :1). 
 "Know them (plural) which labor among you and are over you 
 in the Lord," etc. (1 Thess. 5:12). "Obey them'' (plural) 
 (Heb. 13 :17). Elders of the church, etc. (James 5 :14). Accord- 
 ing to the Congregational theory and practice, but one elder is 
 needed in each church. The government of the church by rulers, 
 exhibited by this Council, and supported by these five separate 
 scriptural arguments, becomes an established principle of Church 
 polity and invincible against every assault. 
 
 The Eldership. 
 
 (2) Contrary to Prelacy, this Council exhibits the government 
 of the Church in the hands, not of one man as pope, prelate or 
 archbishop, nor of apostles simply or apostolic successors (so- 
 called) as dioceasan bishops; nor of preachers simply, apostles 
 and preaching elders as in a conference of bishops, presiding 
 elders, preaching elders, and preaching deacons ; but in the hands 
 of two classes of elders, teaching elders and ruling elders. In 
 order to demonstrate this fact it becomes necessary to examine 
 the two classes who are six times mentioned in connection with 
 this Council, and five of the times at least as composing it. 
 
 (1) The "apostles" were present simply as "elders," combining 
 
 67 
 
in themselves the elements both of the teaching and ruling elder- 
 ship. The proof is three-fold: (a) The fact of their eldership 
 is indisputable, for they call themselves "elders." 'The elders, 
 which are among you, I exhort, who am also an elder (I Peter 
 5 :1). "The elder unto the elect lady and her children" (II John 
 1). "The elder unto the well-beloved Gaius" (III John 1). 
 (b) They are not engaged in this Council in exercising their 
 function of "apostles," but are in the very act of ruling. There- 
 fore it was the ruling function of their office which was then being 
 exercised. The conclusion seems inevitable, that because they 
 are both teaching and ruling elders, and are engaged in the very 
 act of ruling; therefore, they were present in that capacity, (c) 
 The conclusion becomes irresistible, when it is further remembered 
 that they did not exercise their inspired apostolic authority, or 
 perform any act which had the appearance of exercising the 
 extraordinary authority which belonged to the apostles 
 exclusively. 
 
 (2) The "elders" present in the Council were either ruling 
 elders simply, or included some of both classes, some who were 
 simply ruling elders, and some who were both teaching and ruling 
 elders. It is utterly impossible to determine between the two 
 alternatives, and it is quite as immaterial, it being necessary only 
 to show that the ruling elder simply was present in that capacity, 
 (a) The name presbyters has special reference to ruling. The 
 presbyters of the synagogue were the "rulers of the synagogue," 
 while the scribes, rabbis,, and priests were the spiritual teachers. 
 (Geikie's Life of Christ, Vol. II, P. 623). (b) The plurality 
 in every church cannot be explained, unless they are ruling elders. 
 The previous chapter announced they "ordained them elders in 
 every church" (Acts 14:23), which must have had special refer- 
 ence to ruling elders ; the same term being employed in the follow- 
 ing chapter, without any indication of its being used to desig- 
 nate a different class, leads to the conclusion that the elders of the 
 previous chapter and of this Council were identical, (c) The 
 distinctions between them are proof of two classes of elders. "He 
 that teacheth," etc. and "he that ruleth," etc. (Rom. 12:8), 
 clearly distinguish between them. "Let the elders that rule 
 
 68 
 
well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who 
 labor in the word and doctrine" (1 Tim. 5:17), recognizes two 
 classes of elders, (d) The burden of rule is laid upon the elders 
 at Ephesus (Acts 20: 17, 28), in the exhortation of Paul, at the 
 very time when Timothy was preacher at Ephesus (1 Tim. 1:3). 
 (e) The use of the word ^'presbytery'' is further evidence of 
 the ruling eldership. Occuring but three times in the New 
 Testament (Luke 22:66; Acts 22:5; and I Tim. 4:14), though 
 translated presbytery but once (I Tim. 4:14), twice it refers to 
 a Jewish court undoubtedly composed of ruling elders simply 
 (Luke 22:66, and Acts 22:5), and when used with reference 
 to an ecclesiastical court of the Christian Church, without any 
 indication of a change of designation, the conclusion is irresisti- 
 ble, that it must have contained at least some who were ruling 
 elders simply. Having then shown that the distinction between 
 the two classes of elders existed, the fact that there was a plu- 
 rality at Jerusalem in the local churches, which necessarily in- 
 cluded some of this element, is proof positive that the presbyters 
 of the Council were either ruling elders simply, or included some 
 of that class; and therefore the government of the Church is in 
 the hands of the "elders/* 
 
 Equality o£ the Eldership. 
 
 3. Contrary to both Prelacy and Congregationalism, this 
 Council at Jerusalem exhibited the parity of the eldership. Pres- 
 byterianism is not careful to demonstrate the parity of the min- 
 istry. If the parity of the eldership be established, the other 
 follows as a necessity. The latter is not peculiar to the Presby- 
 terian system, whilst the former is one of its most distinctinve 
 principles, and is plainly demonstrated by this Council in several 
 ways. 
 
 (1) In sending up the case to Jerusalem for a decision, no 
 superior apostolic, prelatic, or ministerial authority is recognized 
 by Antioch higher than the presbyterate. It nowhere appears 
 that a decision is asked simply of the apostles, whilst they by 
 courtesy or for some other cause associated the elders with 
 themselves. But the very opposite appears, that Antioch ac- 
 
 69 
 
knowledged no superiority of apostolic authority whatever. The 
 record simply states that certain "should go up to Jerusalem 
 unto the apostles and elders about this question." Why not go 
 simply to the apostles? Why are the elders associated with the 
 apostles in the appeal? Did not Antioch appeal to elders as well 
 as apostles ? Did they not appeal to both upon precisely the same 
 equality? Is there the shadow of authority for supposing that 
 they made any distinction between the two classes in asking a 
 decision of apostles and elders? 
 
 (2) In their coming together, is any distinction made between 
 them? Can any discover from the record, that the apostles came 
 armed with more authority than the elders? The narrative 
 simply states that the "apostles and elders came together for to 
 consider of this matter." Did the apostles come to consider and 
 act, whilst the elders came to be spectators? If our judgment 
 must be formed solely from the inspired record, there is no 
 alternative but to acknowledge the manifest fact, that they came 
 together upon equal authority, 
 
 (3) During the session of the Council did any apostle or the 
 whole number at any time by any word or act claim any more 
 authority than the elders? Did any apostle assume any more 
 authority? Did any apostle exercise any more authority than 
 the elders? What evidence is there that the body recognized 
 the superiority of either class? So far as the record goes, each 
 class considered the other as peers. 
 
 (4) In publishing their decrees, did the apostles send them 
 forth in their own name as their act and by their authority? 
 On the contrary, associating the elders with themselves, and 
 causing it to read, "apostles and elders, brethren," they ac- 
 knowledged the parity of the eldership by issuing the decrees 
 in their united names as by equal authority, wiping out even 
 the distinction of names, and gathering both into one class of 
 "brethren," exhibit the opposite spirit of those claiming superi- 
 ority over their "brethren in the Lord." 
 
 (5) In delivering the decrees to the various churches scat- 
 tered throughout Christendom, did they lay them upon the 
 churches as ordained by apostolic authority? Did they recog- 
 
 70 
 
nize any difference between the two classes constituting the Coun- 
 cil ? On the contrary, it is the positive statement of the Scripture, 
 that the decrees were "ordained of the apostles and elders," — 
 equal authority being accorded to the elders as to the apostles. 
 Considering these five facts, which could not have been merely 
 fortuitous, that Antioch appealed to ''apostles and elders" as 
 upon equality, that ^'apostles and elders came together, as 
 upon equal authority, that they acted together, as upon equal 
 authority, that they issued their decrees in their united names 
 as by equal authority, that the decrees were delivered and 
 received by the churches as "ordained of the apostles and elders" 
 in equal authority, the conclusion necessitating the parity of the 
 eldetrship is irresistible. 
 
 Unity of the Church. 
 
 4. Contrary to Congregationalism this Council exhibits the 
 unity of the Church. If not upon the principle of unity of the 
 Church, then upon what principle does a Church Council con- 
 vened at Jerusalem decide a matter affecting Antioch simply? 
 If it were a local matter, why should any other place than Antioch 
 be the scene of the conflict? Jerusalem was not troubled by the 
 matter, but Antioch was. If an effectual settlement of the matter 
 as is alleged, had determined the place, then Antioch would 
 certainly have been . the place. That, however, is a matter of 
 little importance, compared with another feature of this Council 
 demonstrating the Church's essential unity. It is the jurisdic- 
 tion of the Council, which the Congregationalists cannot explain 
 upon any other theory than the underlying principle of unity. 
 Did they publish the decrees simply at Antioch? "As they went 
 through the cities they delivered them the decrees for to keep," 
 etc. (Acts 16:4). They are no more binding on Antioch than 
 on Christendom! If the jurisdiction of the Council extended 
 to all the churches, upon what principle other that the unity of 
 the Church? Tested by Scripture, which is the interpreter of 
 Scripture, the Church's unity is still more manifest 
 
 (1) The use of "Church" in the singular, comprehending the 
 whole, manifests its corporate unity. Such unmistakable evidence 
 
 71 
 
is borne by one passage in the Revised Testament, that it alone 
 would be sufficient to establish the fact. "So the Church through- 
 out all Judea and Gallilee and Samaria had peace being edified," 
 etc. (Acts 9:31 Revised Version). 
 
 The twelfth chapter of 1st Corinthians is an elaborate argument 
 
 to demonstrate the unity of the Church, which has the advantage 
 over every other argument, that it is inspired ; but if the Church's 
 unity be denied, that argument becomes a mystery. Arguing the 
 fact from all having the same spirit, illustrating it by the unity 
 of the human body, it closes vnth the assertion, "Now ye are the 
 body of Christ and members in particular. And God hath set 
 some in the Church first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly 
 teachers, after that miracles, then gift:^ of healing, helps, govern- 
 ments, diversity of tongues," etc. (I Cor. 12:17, 28). If it be 
 objected that this language applies to the invisible Church, the 
 reply is, that the invisible Church, as such, needs no "apostles," 
 "prophets," "teachers," "miracles," "healings," "helps," "govern- 
 ments," and "diversity of tongues" ; these things are for the visi- 
 ble Church. If to this it be objected that the two cannot be sepa- 
 rated except in thought, at least the part of the invisible which 
 is still in the visible, that would necessitate predicating unity of the 
 visible as well as invisible. If it be claimed that I Cor. 12 :28 applies 
 to the local church it may be answered, that God had not set 
 "apostles," "prophets," etc. in the local church of Corinth. 
 
 (2) Such figures are employed, representing the unity of the 
 Church, that they become unmeaning when that principle is elimi- 
 nated. Eph. 2:19-22 presents the Church as a state, a family, 
 and a temple; but a temple is not a building of independent dis- 
 connected parts. The Church is the body of Christ (I Cor. 
 12:27). But though every organ, muscle, bone, and sinew of 
 the body were collected disconnected in a mass, they would not 
 constitute a body. The Church is the kingdom of Christ. But 
 a kingdom of absolutely independent clans or provinces would 
 be an anomaly. If it be claimed that such expressions, "temple," 
 "body," and "kingdom," refer to the invisible Church, then the 
 reply is, if the invisible Church has essential to its very being 
 
 72 
 
a unity, the visible Church which approaches nearest the divine 
 ideal must exhibit visible unity. 
 
 To the support of the latter truth may be adduced the testimony 
 of Dr. Thornwell : "The relations between the two is so close, 
 that it is unwarrantable to predicate unity of the one and the 
 want of unity of the other. The visible or professing Church 
 approaches perfection, as it seeks to realize the invisible or spirit- 
 ual. The two ought to coincide, and the purity of the outward 
 is determined by its approximation to the inward. A Church, 
 therefore, which cannot realize a visible unity, and thus aim to 
 coincide with the invisible Church, is sel f -condemned ; and any 
 constitution which does not recognize this fact, is convicted of 
 being unscriptural. This principle of the unity of the Church 
 lies at the foundation of the Presbyterian polity, and all its pecu- 
 liarities are designed to bring this out, and give it formal expres- 
 sion. It is singular that the only two bodies which claim to real- 
 ize this unity are in the deadliest antagonism — each charging the 
 other with being Antichrist. They are the Church of Rome and 
 the Presbyterian Church. Rome does, in a certain sense, give 
 unity to the Church. She compacts all its parts. There is no 
 stronger outward representation of unity than is furnished in 
 her system of government. There is, however, this marked dif- 
 ference between the two cases : the Church of Rome undertakes 
 to exhibit the body in its unity with an earthly head — to exhibit 
 Christ as well as his members ; the Presbyterian Church exhibits 
 in visible unity on earth the body only, and connects it with a 
 heavenly Head. The Bishop of Rome claims to be the head of 
 the Church. He alone who is in communion with him is a mem- 
 ber of the Church, and consequently a member of Christ. Now, 
 he must be either a real or a true head, or a symbolical and typical 
 head. If the former, then as a body cannot have two real heads 
 without being a monster, the headship of Christ is displaced. If 
 the latter, then, as the body must partake of the nature of its 
 head, the Church is destroyed" (Thornwell's Col. W., Vol. IV, 
 Pages 135 and 136). 
 
 In regard to the method of realizing and exhibiting this unity 
 of the Church, Dr. Thornwell affirms : "That unity is realized 
 
by representative assemblies. The government of the Church is not 
 entrusted to individuals, nor to the mass of believers, but to Coun- 
 cils. . . , These constitute a bond, which brings all the parts 
 together into unity, and gives the Church the property of indefinite 
 expansibility. . . . It is worthy of note how all churches 
 have practically acknowledged the representative feature of Pres- 
 byterianism. Episcopacy, for example, has its General Con- 
 ventions, in which, in the attempt to realize unity, the parlia- 
 mentary principle is grafted upon the system. Congregationalism 
 has its Councils, the existence of which is a tribute to the import- 
 ance of the representative principles. Even the Pope, on occasions 
 of great emegency, calls Councils to decide disputed questions. 
 We are but carrying out, then, a principle, the practical necessity 
 of which is recognized by all Churches, but which is inherent 
 in the very nature of the Presbyterian system alone." (Thornweirs 
 Col. W, Vol. IV, Pages 136, 137 and 138). 
 
 The Encyclopedia Britannica bears similar testimony to the 
 completeness of the Presbyterian system of Councils. "It is of 
 course in the Presbyterian Churches that Councils have received 
 their most systematic development, and without claiming infalli- 
 ble authority retain the most extended powers as legislative, ad- 
 ministrative, and judicial. ... In non-Presbyterian Churches, 
 Synods have various degrees. of deliberate or decisive authority." 
 (Encyclopedia Brit., ninth ed., Vol. VI, Page 512). If it be 
 argued that the Council at Jerusalem could not have exhibited the 
 unity of the Church, because all the apostles were not present, 
 and very few of the churches are supposed to have been repre- 
 sented (perhaps only Antioch and those in and near Jerusalem), 
 it may be answered that a quorum of a court as truly realizes 
 unity as if every church in existence were represented by delegates. 
 
 The Right of Appeal. 
 
 5. Contrary to Congregationalism, this Council exhibits the 
 right of appeal. This principle is inseparable from the unity 
 of the Church, and either one established is proof of the other. 
 If, then, the unity of the Church has been established by Scripture, 
 the right of appeal follows as a necessary principle, and Tnce 
 
 74 
 
versa. It matters not what may be the difference of opinion as 
 to the nature of the appeal to the apostles and elders, whether 
 a specific case was carried up, or a decision asked as to the princi- 
 ple, the evidence still remains of an appeal, complaint, reference 
 or overture of some nature. The record is too plain to be 
 "explained away/' The heresy existed at Antioch, the delegation 
 was appointed to lay the matter before the apostles and elders, 
 they came together to consider the matter, the delegation was 
 heard, a debate occurred, a decision was rendered, and a dele- 
 gation appointed to publish the matter at Antioch. These 
 are the facts furnished by the inspired narrative, which 
 may be variously interpreted, but can never be so obscured that 
 the multitude of Bible readers will fail to recognize the fact of 
 some kind of appeal, furnishing a precedent, according the right 
 to the humblest member of the Church to be heard at the bar of 
 the highest tribunal of the Church. 
 
 Scripture the Sole Authority. 
 
 6. Contrary to the "Charybdis" of Prelacy on the one hand, 
 and the "Scylla" of Congregationalism on the other, this Council 
 exhibits the word of God as the sole basis of any ecclesiastical 
 deliverance.. The apostles and elders were governed by no tra- 
 ditions on the one hand, nor human wisdom and expediency on 
 the other. They dared not attempt to legislate, in the sense of 
 making law, for the Church of Christ. That would have been to 
 usurp the authority of Christ, who alone is the Church's Law- 
 giver. Nothing lay within the province of that Council but to 
 consult the written law, the revealed will of Christ, and apply 
 the principles therein contained to the question under considera- 
 tion. But they certainly acted as if it was their province to inter- 
 pret, apply, and enforce Christ's law. Synods and Councils may 
 not think to change the law of Christ, or legislate for the Church, 
 but there must be some authoritative court to apply the principles 
 of that law to each particular case. Whilst not interfering with 
 the right of private judgment, yet ecclesiastical Councils may 
 not permit licentiousness in word or deed. The only safety for 
 church courts between ecclesiastical tyranny and eccelsiastical 
 
 75 
 
licensing of wickedness is speaking where the Word of God speaks, 
 and being silent when it is silent. Christ, who has given law to 
 the Church, has also given authority to the rulers, assembled in 
 the courts of His house, to enforce that law. Liberty of con- 
 science and dissent of judgment are possible only where Synods 
 and Councils have erred by violating the law of Christ. As that 
 Council at Jerusalem inquired the mind of the Spirit by appeal 
 to the Scriptures, so no church court can ordain, forbid, or enjoin 
 anything whatever, unless it can exhibit as its warrant, "Thus 
 saith the Lord," or an inference therefrom both good and neces- 
 sary. 
 
 This Council at Jerusalem answers the question how the Church 
 can obtain the mind of the Spirit after revelation has ceased to 
 guide unerringly. It furnishes a model and warrant for the 
 Church in like circumstances. It is a precedent which should 
 guide every church court in all its deliverances. The Ariadne 
 clue, which alone is sufficient to guide the Church safely through 
 all its labyrinths of difficulties and mazes of doubt, is prayerful 
 dependence on the Spirit to discover in the written Word what 
 "seemed good to the Holy Ghost." Only when that which "seemed 
 good to the Holy Ghost" also seems good to the Church, is there 
 safe ecclesiastical action. Any church court, acting by virtue of 
 a divine constitution, guided entirely by the precepts of Christ, 
 and depending on the influence of the Spirit, can use the language 
 of the Council, "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us." 
 These principles exhibited by the Council at Jerusalem are also 
 the principles of the Presbyterian system, and the principles 
 which everywhere are sustained by the Word of God, 
 
 76 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 l^ttibptmani^m anb tiie ^atvamtnt^. 
 
 THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 In the order of time the sacrament of Baptism is administered 
 to a believer previous to his participation in the sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper, and it is, therefore, ordinarily considered first in 
 any treatment of the subject. In the order of nature, however, 
 the case is reversed. The Lord's Supper pertains to the atoning 
 work of Christ. Baptism represents the work of the Holy Spirit 
 in the application of redemption in the sphere of Chiristian ex- 
 perience. For this reason this treatise will discuss them in the 
 natural order. 
 
 The Identity of the Church. 
 
 Presbyterianism is unique in one respect at least. It alone 
 insists on the unity and identity of the Church in all ages and 
 under all dispensations. It maintains that the Church of the 
 Patriarchal, Jewish and Christian Dispensations is one and the 
 same; and the Presbyterian Church identifies itself, therefore, 
 not simply with the Apostolic age, but with the life and order 
 of the entire Old Testament regime. The only dff erence between 
 the Presbyterianism of the Old Testament and of the New, is 
 that one was prophetic, looking forward by faith to a coming 
 Christ and the other historic, looking backward to Christ, "mani- 
 fest in the flesh" and who will "come again the second time without 
 sin unto salvation." 
 
 Proofs of Identity. 
 
 This identity of the Church under various dispensations may 
 be conclusively established: (1) By the fact that the theology 
 of the Church has always been the same — salvation by "the blood 
 of the Lamb." This theology was preached in the Patriarchal dis- 
 pensation by the sacrifices ; made clearer in the Mosaic economy by 
 
 77 
 
the passover Iamb ; blazed afresh in the vision of prophecy, which 
 saw him "brought as a Iamb to the slaughter" ; burst forth into 
 the full light of the gospel, as John the Baptist designated the 
 antitype of all preceding types as "the Lamb of God that taketh 
 away the sin of the world" ; and in the preaching of apostles, 
 gathered around, as a nucleus, the "Lamb without blemish and 
 without spot," whose "blood cleanseth us from all sin" ; while 
 John looked through the open door of Heaven and saw ^*In the 
 midst of the throne ... a Lamb as it had been slain." 
 
 (2) By the fact that salvation in every age is by the same in- 
 strumentality, the exercise of faith. "Abraham believed God, 
 and it was counted unto him for rightousness." So Paul argues 
 we are saved in the same way, "Being justified by faith," etc. 
 The only difference was that the Jew looked by faith to a Messiah 
 to come, and we look by faith to a Messiah already come. 
 
 (3) The Sacraments of the Church are the same. In the Jewish 
 Church there were two — Circumcision and the Passover — and in 
 the Christian Church, Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Circum- 
 cision, having exactly the same significance as Baptism has given 
 place to it, there being no change of the sacrament, but simply 
 of the symbol ; hence Paul identifies them : "In whom also ye 
 are circumcized with the circumcision made without hands in 
 putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision 
 of Christ; buried with him in baptism," etc. (II Col. 2:12). So 
 also the Passover has given place to the Lord's Supper, both having 
 the same significance; hence Paul announces, "For even Christ 
 our Passover is sacrificed for us" (I Cor. 5:7). The Passover 
 was prophetic, and the Lord's Supper is the same sacrament, 
 historic. 
 
 (4) The constitution of the Church is always the same, in 
 every dispensation, a government in the hands of the "elders." 
 In the patriarchal age these "elders" were the natural heads of 
 families. In the Mosaic age he and Aaron submitted their cre- 
 dentials to the judgment of the "elders" in Egypt. In the "Church 
 in the Wilderness" there were elected "seventy elders," which 
 gave rise to the Sanhedrim at a later period. After the settle- 
 ment in Caanan there was in each local synagogue a bench of 
 
 78 
 
"elders," the "rulers of the synagogue.'* Not at all surprised, 
 therefore, are we that in the New Testament it is said they "or- 
 dained them elders in every Church'* (Acts 14:23). So nat- 
 urally enough when John on Patmos "looked and behold a door 
 was opened in heaven," he saw through that open door in heaven 
 no bishops, archbishops, cardinals, nor popes, but "four and twenty 
 elders." (Rev. 4:4). 
 
 If the plan of salvation is the same in all ages; if "Jesus 
 Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever ; if He is the 
 Divine Head of the Church; these considerations would seem 
 to indicate that "the Church of God" is one and the same, though 
 existing under different dispensations. Alexander Cruden in his 
 "Concordance," — recognized as a standard by scholars generally, — 
 furnishes perhaps the simplest and most comprehensive definition 
 of the Church ever framed as, "All the elect of God, of what 
 nation soever, from the beginning to the end of the world, who 
 make but one body, whereof Jesus Christ is the Head, Col. 1 :18." 
 The identity of the Church in all ages is, therefore, of vital con- 
 sideration, because it determines the place and importance of the 
 Sacraments in the Church and imparts additional significance to 
 them as not mere ceremonial observances but as having a holy and 
 spiritual purpose. Especially does it have a bearing on the mode 
 and subjects of Baptism as will appear in the further treatment of 
 that sacrament. 
 
 I. 
 
 SacramentSy Their Significance and Purpose. 
 
 The word "sacrament" comes from the Latin word "sacra- 
 mentum," designating the oath of a soldier. According to the 
 definition of the Catechism, "A sacrament is a holy ordinance in- 
 stituted by Christ, wherein by sensible signs Christ and the benefits 
 of the New Covenant are represented, sealed and applied to 
 believers." In other words, a sacrament consists of two things — 
 
 (1) The "Sensible Signs," which are the outward symbols, and 
 
 (2) the things signified. In baptism the outward and visible 
 symbol is water — the thing signified is the cleansing of the soul 
 
 79 
 
through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. In the Lord's Supper 
 the outward symbols are the bread and wine. The thing signi- 
 fied is the death of Christ and our participation in its benefits. 
 
 The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 Confining our inquiry at this time to the Lord's Supper, the 
 Catechism defines it as "A sacrament wherein, by giving and re- 
 ceiving bread and wine, according to Christ's appointment, His 
 death is showed forth; and the worthy receivers are, not after a 
 corporeal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of His 
 body and blood, with all His benefits, to their spiritual nourish- 
 ment and growth in grace." 
 
 Diverse Interpretations. 
 
 1. The theory of the Romanists is called "Transubstantiation," 
 which teaches that the bread and wine by the officiating Catholic 
 priest are converted into the very body and blood of Christ. The 
 objections to this interpretation are fatal. In the first place, it 
 violates the nature of a sacrament by destroying its symbolism, for 
 the bread and wine are no longer symbols but are changed into the 
 thing which they are supposed to represent. In the next place, it 
 contradicts our senses. It asks us to believe that the symbols 
 which look like bread and wine, which taste like bread and wine 
 are really not bread and wine ; and that our senses of sight, taste, 
 smell and touch deceive us. In addition to this, it contradicts our 
 reason by asking that we believe the law of nature governing 
 matter can be so suspended in its operation as to allow the material 
 body of Christ to be present in a million or more different places 
 where as many priests are transmuting bread and wine into that 
 same body of Christ. The Romish interpretation taxes our 
 credulity to the utmost. Faith may soar beyond the sweep of 
 reason, but it never contradicts rationality. 
 
 2. The Lutheran interpretation is very similar, entitled, "Con- 
 substantiation," which insists that the symbols still remain bread 
 and wine, but "in, with and under" them the believer receives the 
 very body and blood of Christ. All the objections to the Tran- 
 substantiation of the Catholic hold against "Consubstantiation" 
 
 80 
 
and one more, for it violates another law of nature by teaching 
 that two material things, the bread and the body of Christ can 
 occupy the same place at the same time. 
 
 3. The Zwinglian interpretation is just the opposite of these 
 two and goes to the other extreme. In his reaction from Rome 
 Zwingli, the great Swiss Reformer taught that the sacrament was 
 symbolic and nothing more. It has been rejected by almost the 
 entire Protestant Communion as too inadequate. It would be dif- 
 ficult to believe that so solemn an ordinance dealing with such 
 sacred things as the suflfering and death of Christ means nothing 
 more than a symbolic representation of the truth. Such belittling 
 of the sacrament, as thereby to rob it of spiritual benefit, would 
 dwarf its functions to such an extent as to deprive it of all sig- 
 nificance and value. 
 
 II 
 The Calvinistic Interpretation. 
 
 In medio virtus is a Latin proverb equivalent to the statement 
 that the truth lies ordinarily between the extremes. In keeping 
 with this proverb the Protestant teaching as to the sacrament of 
 the Lord's Supper, occupies middle ground between the doctrine 
 of Transubstantiation and the symbolic view of Zwinglianism. 
 John Calvin, followed by our Confession of Faith, imparts to 
 this sacrament a spiritual flavor. The elements remain simply 
 bread and wine, entirely unchanged; and those who do not "dis- 
 cern the Lord's body" receive nothing but bread and wine. The 
 true believer, however, by faith feeds upon Christ really and truly. 
 It is to the soul a spiritual "feast of fat things ... of wines on 
 the lees well refined." (Isa. 25:6). In this sacrament just as the 
 body assimilates the natural food of bread and wine, so the soul 
 partakes by faith of the very life of Christ "to its spiritual nourish- 
 ment and growth in grace." 
 
 Sacerdotalism. 
 
 In nothing does the essential diflFerence between Catholicism 
 and Protestantism appear more marked than in the sacrament. 
 
 81 
 
Sacerdotalism is a term characteristic of the whole papal system. 
 It means priestcraft — the domination of the whole church to the 
 authority and will of its priests no matter how corrupt. In the 
 sacrament of the Lord's Supper the benefit derived from this 
 ordinance depends entirely upon the will of the officiating priest. 
 It accords him the power of blessing the ordinance according to 
 his intention. The communicants can never know whether he has 
 given them the benefits of his good intention or converted the 
 ceremony into a farce by withholding his blessing. 
 
 In the Protestant Church the benefit never is dependent on the 
 will of the officiating minister, but solely on the relationship of 
 the believer to Christ and on his improvement of the occasion as a 
 means of grace by prayer, self-examination, repentance and faith. 
 
 The Lord's Supper, Nature and Purpose. 
 
 This leads naturally to the consideration of the purpose served 
 by this sacrament. It has its place and function in the life of the 
 Church just as truly as has prayer, preaching, baptism, benevolence, 
 and any other divinely appointed ordinance of God's house. 
 
 (1) Symbolic Ordinance. 
 
 First of all it is a symbolic ordinance. "By sensible signs" — 
 bread and wine, — Christ and the benefits of the new covenant are 
 represented. Just as in the preaching of the gospel the atonement 
 is apprehended by the hearing of the ear, so in these elements the 
 same truth is symbolized and apprehended by the eye. The sacra- 
 ment confirms "the word preached," and enables the believer to get 
 firmer grasp of the benefits of the covenant of Redemption, pur- 
 chased by the precious blood of Christ as the expression and proof 
 of his dying love. 
 
 (2) Sealing Ordinance. 
 
 The symbolism is valuable but is only a part of the sacrament. 
 Still more valuable, and the essential element of the Lord's Sup- 
 per, is the indispensable "sealing" of the covenant. The figure of 
 speech is very striking and significant in the business world ; and 
 in human government a seal serves several purposes. It is used 
 
 82 
 
to stamp a document as genuine and confirm an agreement. The 
 pardon of a convict by the President of the United States may 
 have the official name attached but is of no binding force as yet 
 and might be reversed; but if the Seal of State is affixed it be- 
 comes inviolate and binds all parties, even the President himself. 
 The seal of the Government on its coin or currency binds and 
 pledges all the resources of the State to its support. For inviolate 
 security and protection valuable packages are "sealed" with the 
 official stamp of the party or State which so guarantees the un- 
 molested contents. To safeguard the dead body of Christ, Pilate 
 authorized the protection of the sepulcher with the seal of the 
 Roman Empire. Nothing less than the invisible power of God 
 himself could have had the temerity to break that seal. Backed by 
 the authority and resources of the Empire the contents of that 
 sepulcher were as safe as human power could render it. In like 
 manner the sacrament is the "Seal" of the covenant. It binds 
 Christ to guarantee the salvation of the believer and it binds the 
 believer to a life of obedience and consecration. Every partici- 
 pation in the Lord's Supper is a renewal of the covenant between 
 the soul and its Saviour. The believer "sealed" is guaranteed 
 eternal life and protected by the omnipotent power of a covenant- 
 keeping God. 
 
 (3) Commemorative Ordinance. 
 
 On monument, tablet or tomb the inscribed words — "In 
 Memoriam" — have always peculiar and sacred significance. They 
 are a perpetual memento of one that is "absent." In instituting 
 the Supper both in giving the bread and in giving the wine 
 — twice — "our Lord the same night in which He was betrayed" 
 emphasized the memorial feature of this perpetual ordinance, say- 
 ing, "This do in remembrance of Me." 
 
 Surely the blood-bought Church could never forget "dark 
 Gethsemane or cross-crowned Calvary." It is sad reflection on 
 the fickleness of human nature that the church should need a 
 perpetual reminder of "His dying love," yet time and circum- 
 stances efface impressions and deaden aflfections. The Lord's 
 Supper is the Master's appeal for perpetual "remembrance," not 
 
 83 
 
simply to the apostles who loved Him in the flesh, but to distant 
 ages, bringing to mind Him, "Whom having not seen we love." 
 Each observance is a "remembrance" pointing backward through 
 the ages to Calvary. Each remembrance is calculated to stir the 
 heart of the believer to its deepest depth and awaken a love be- 
 gotten of love of which we fervently sing: 
 
 "Immortal love, forever full, 
 Forever flowing free 
 Forever shared, forever whole 
 A never ebbing sea ! . 
 
 Our outward lips confess the name 
 All other names above. 
 Love only knoweth whence it c?me 
 And comprehendeth love." 
 
 (4) Anticipative Ordinance. 
 
 H it commemorates, it likewise anticipates. If one hand points 
 to Calvary, the other points forward to the future saying: "Till 
 He come." This sacrament is the connecting link between the 
 first and second coming of Christ. It ever keeps alive the faith 
 of the Church in the future glorious triumph of the Church 
 through the triumph of her divine Lord. 
 
 "Till He come" — The age of doubt may grow skeptical and 
 sneeringly ask, "Where is the promise of His coming?" To this 
 challenge the sacrament points to the heavens and cries — "Till He 
 come." The ungodly world may be utterly unprepared and over- 
 whelmed by His appearance, but the sacrament is ever echoing its 
 warning — Till He come." Even His own bride, the blood-bought 
 Church may grow cold and cease to pray, "Come Lord Jesus, 
 come quickly," yet the sacrament is a constant reminder reiterating 
 its message, "Till He come." No voice of prophet or seer can 
 tell "What shall be on the morrow" ; but this sacrament acclaims 
 one inevitable event, crying through the ages, and will continue its 
 appeal to faith with the challenge — "Till He come." 
 
 84 
 
(5) Gracious Ordinance. 
 
 Not by some mysterious efficacy or inscrutable method, not by 
 some inherent power — "ex opere operato," signifying virtue within 
 itself, — nor by some inexplicable operation, does the holy com- 
 munion benefit the soul of the believer. The blessing obtained is 
 that which pertains to it as a spiritual "means of grace." It sums 
 up in itself all the other means appointed for spiritual edification. 
 It enlists prayer, the Word, meditation and the sacrament itself. 
 It functions as a gracious exercise which makes its appeal to the 
 whole spiritual nature of the believer. The "remembrance" brings 
 Calvary afresh to the mind in a very realistic manner that is cal- 
 culated to awaken contrition for our "sins which pierced Him," and 
 to stir the soul to its deepest depths of love. The broken bread and 
 wine poured out enable the soul to obtain a firmer grasp by faith 
 of Christ "evidently set forth crucified before us." The sense of 
 pardoned sin and the assurance of salvation are calculated to re- 
 store to us the joy of salvation. Reflection on our failures and 
 sins inherent in our unsanctified carnal nature — dying but still 
 active — causes penitential tears and stimulates new purpose of 
 amendment of life and manners. The communion of saints, in- 
 cluding our Lord Himself, affords a sweet foretaste and blessed 
 hope of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, "When we shall drink 
 anew" in the kingdom of our dear Lord, when the body of be- 
 lievers is complete and the blood-bought church shall see face to 
 face "Him whom our soul loveth," when for the first time the 
 vast redeemed host shall assemble in one innumerable throng, when 
 the "old, old story" shall burst into "the new song" of redeeming 
 love, and we "shall bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him 
 Lord of all," amid the joint hallelujahs of saints and angels. 
 
 Is not this conception of the nature and purpose of the sacra- 
 ment worthy of the name, "holy communion"? An ordinance so 
 symbolic, sealing, commemorative and gracious exalts it into a 
 large and indispensable place in the scheme of Redemption. Is 
 not the church justified in lifting it to a higher function of service 
 in the kingdom by more scriptural interpretation and exposition 
 for the comfort of believers and by more intelligent and spiritual 
 
 85 
 
celebration as a distinct means of grace, "for the perfecting of the 
 saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body 
 of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the 
 knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure 
 of the statute of the fulness of Christ;" and that we "may be 
 able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length 
 and depth and height; and to know the love of Christ which 
 passeth knowledge that ye might be filled with all the fullness ot 
 God. Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly 
 above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh 
 in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus through- 
 out all ages, world without end." 
 
 86 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 $resAptettaniis;m anb tte £>acramentst. 
 
 BAPTISM. 
 
 Definitions lay the foundation for constructive work as a basis 
 for Scritpural exposition and interpretation, in reaching the truth 
 in regard to any subject, doctrine or ordinance. 
 
 Definition of Baptism. 
 
 Baptism is the thorough change wrought in the spiritual life 
 of a soul through the operation of the Holy Ghost, and is outward- 
 ly symbolized by the application of water in the name of the 
 Father, Son and Holy Ghost. In the popular conception of the 
 ordinance, water baptism so occupies the thought and attention of 
 many people as to cause them to lose sight of the fact that the 
 ouward rite is not the real thing but only a representation of the 
 work of the Spirit. The definition of the Confession of Faith 
 may serve, therefore, to reinforce the real significance of the ordi- 
 nance : "Baptism is a sacrament, wherein the washing with water, 
 in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, 
 doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking 
 of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be 
 the Lord's." 
 
 The thing signified is the cleansing operation of the Spirit by 
 the application of the blood of Christ that "cleanseth us from all 
 sin." The symbol is water, which has no efficacy in itself, but 
 which visibly represents the invisible grace of the "new birth." 
 According to the Confession of Faith, "The efficacy of baptism is 
 not tied to the moment of time wherein it is administered." The 
 baptism of the soul by the Holy Ghost and the baptism of the 
 body by water seldom, if ever, take place the same moment. The 
 Spiritual is supposed to precede the symbolic. Unless, therefore, 
 a change of heart is wrought by the Spirit, baptism with water is 
 of no avail, — regardless of the mode of applying the water. 
 
 87 
 
Mode of Baptism not Essential. 
 
 Water baptism itself not being essential to salvation, much 
 less is the mode. At the same time being a scriptural ordinance, it 
 should correspond as nearly as possible to the thing which it signi- 
 fies. It is of fundamental importance that every ordinance should 
 conform to the scriptural type because of the tendency of human 
 nature to attach undue importance to any ceremonial ordinance in 
 proportion as it departs from the simplicity of the scriptural form. 
 This justifies inquiry into, and a discussion of, the mode of bap- 
 tism. The first consideration touches the whole question at issue : 
 Is baptism the application of the person to the water; or the appli- 
 cation of the water to the person f 
 
 I. 
 
 The Meaning of the Word. 
 
 As the advocates of immersion base its claim largely on the 
 meaning of the Greek word, baptizo, from which is derived the 
 English word baptism, it becomes necessary to subject it to the 
 closest scrutiny. Two words in the Greek, bapto and baptizo, are 
 very similar in appearance but very different in their meaning. 
 Bapto means primarily to "dip,** although in the secondary mean- 
 ing it signifies to "dye" and loses the idea of dipping entirely, 
 as the dyeing may be done by sprinkling. 
 
 This word bapto which means to "dip" is never in any instance 
 used as the word for baptism. Baptizo, which is the word used 
 in the Scriptures for baptism, does not mean to "dip" and never 
 lends itself to any special mode. It has one fixed meaning, but 
 may be performed by a dozen different modes. It means con- 
 trolling influence by which the condition of the object is thor- 
 oughly changed. It never has the significance of putting one into 
 the water and taking him out. That would be "dipping," and the 
 word for that act is bapto, which is never applied to baptism. If, 
 however, one is put into the water and left till he is drowned, 
 baptizo would express the act, because he is changed from a living 
 man to a dead man. That, however, would be only one application 
 
 88 
 
of the word. It was used freely by the Greeks for numerous 
 acts, but never demands the suggestion of any mode. "Baptized 
 with wine," used frequently by the Greeks, did not mean "dipped" 
 into the liquid, but meant "drunken" — changed (by drinking 
 wine) from a sober man to a drunken man. "Baptized by a drug" 
 meant having poppy juice sprinkled in his face, or drinking an 
 opiate, and thereby changing his normal condition into a stupor. 
 
 Classic Baptism. 
 
 The following are specimens of usage in the Greek: 
 
 "Baptized by the same drug" ; by drinking from a cup. — Tatius. 
 
 "Baptized by unmixed wine"; by drinking from a cup. — 
 Athenaeus. 
 
 "Baptizing powerfully"; by drinking from a cup. — Athenaeus. 
 
 "Baptized Alexander" ; by drinking from a cup. — Conon. 
 
 "Resembles one baptized" ; by drinking from a cup. — Lucian. 
 
 "Baptized yesterday"; by drinking from a cup. — Plato. 
 
 "Baptized by yesterday's debauch" ; by drinking from a cup. — 
 Plutarch. 
 
 Christ himself used the word in this same sense : "Can ye drink 
 of the cup that I drink of ? and be baptized with the baptism that 
 I am baptized with?" This involved the baptism of martyrdom — 
 changed from life to death. Paul used baptism in the same sense 
 in Heb. 9:10; speaking of the ceremonial sprinklings in the Jewish 
 Church, he called them "divers baptisms" — because they were 
 changed ceremonially from uncleanness to cleanness. Any purifi- 
 cation, no matter by what mode performed, was called baptism, 
 because the condition of the person was changed. The early 
 church fathers, dating back almost to Apostolic times, so used 
 the word. Clement of Alexandria speaks of being "baptized a 
 second time by tears" — changed from impenitence to penitence — 
 but the penitent was not immersed in his own tears. Origen states. 
 *Tor it is only the baptism of blood which renders us more pure 
 than the baptism of water" — changed by the purifying process of 
 martyrdom — ^but the martyr was not immersed in his own blood. 
 
 In the Greek, the word used for the Lord's Supper by the 
 
 89 
 
Apostles is deipnon, which unquestionably means a "feast" ; and 
 yet as a symbolic act no one insists that believers to get the benefit 
 of the Lord's Supper should eat a full meal, although that seemed 
 to have been the practice of the church in the early days. The 
 Apostle Paul rebuked the Corinthian Church for such celebration 
 of the Lord's Supper (1 Cor. 11 :22). If, therefore, a crumb of 
 bread and a sup of wine are universally recognized as sufficient 
 for properly celebrating this sacrament, it is highly inconsistent 
 that the benefit in the other sacrament should be made by some 
 denominations to depend upon the quantity of water. The sym- 
 bolic usage should be the same in both sacraments. 
 
 Dr. James W. Dale, a man of great learning and research, has 
 written voluminous and scholarly books on the meaning of the 
 word haptizo — ^tracing it through the Greek literature as well as 
 throughout the Scriptures — and reaches this conclusion, which no 
 one has ever even attempted to refute : "Whatever is capable of 
 thoroughly changing the character, state and condition of any 
 object is capable of baptizing that object, and by such change of 
 character, state or condition does, in fact, baptize it." 
 
 Based upon this conclusion, the result of preeminent scholar- 
 ship, he challenges the world with this definition of baptism : "The 
 Scriptures teach a baptism which is from Christ as an atoning 
 Redeemer, and is effected in the soul through the Holy Ghost, 
 so that the condition of the soul, in its own nature and its relation 
 to law and to sin, is thoroughly changed, and new relations, in 
 holiness, are established toward God the Father, the Son, and the 
 Holy Ghost. The Scriptures further teach that this baptism of 
 the soul through the blood of Christ received by repentance and 
 faith, the work of the Holy Ghost, is embodied in a rite and 
 symbolly exhibited by the application of pure water to the body, 
 with the utterance of appropriate expository words. This is the 
 doctrine of that *one baptism' by Scripture in its reality by the 
 TToly Ghost, and in that reality ritually symbolized by pure water." 
 
 90 
 
II. 
 
 The Appeal to Scriptures. 
 
 Baptized in the Red Sea. 
 
 The first thing in the Word of God called baptism is the passage 
 of the Red Sea by the children of Israel (1 Cor. 10:1, 2) : "All 
 our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea ; 
 and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea." 
 The mode of this baptism can only be determined by reading the 
 Mosaic account in Exodus 14:21, 22: "And the Lord caused the 
 sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the 
 sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of 
 Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground." Can 
 there be the slightest reasonable doubt about the mode of that 
 baptism ? The Egyptians were immersed ; but Paul does not say 
 they were baptized. The Israelites were not immersed; and yet 
 Paul affirms that they "were all baptized." If any water touched 
 the Israelites, it must have been poured upon them from the 
 cloud, or sprinkled on them by the spray; and yet Paul, inspired 
 and infallible, pronounces it baptism. If we had nothing but the 
 statement of Paul that they "were all baptized," that would be 
 regarded sufficient proof of immersion by multitudes. All the 
 world could not shake their belief that the Israelites were "buried 
 in liquid graves" — if the Mosaic account did not bar the possi- 
 bility of such an inference. Yet upon such insufficient evidence 
 they dogmatize about the immersion of Jesus, simply because 
 of the proximity of a river. But Paul tells of the baptism of 
 multitudes "in the sea" ; and yet Moses assures us they were not 
 immersed. 
 
 Such an application of water as these Israelites received would 
 not now be regarded as baptism by the advocates of immersion ; 
 but we must take our position by the side of Paul, and insist that 
 this was baptism, although it was not immersion. It is curious to 
 see how immersionists attempt to evade what Paul in this place 
 distinctly affirms is baptism. Dr. Alexander Carson, in his hercu- 
 lean effort to prove that "baptism" means "dip" through the whole 
 
 91 
 
range of Greek literature, says of the Israelites on this occasion 
 that they got a "dry dip"! Dr. Broadus, in his tract entitled 
 "Immersion Essential," says that this was "not a literal immer- 
 sion ; it was only something like baptism" ! But Paul insists that 
 it was baptism ! "Baptized unto Moses" denotes the change in 
 Israelis attitude toward Moses and from this moment their accept- 
 ance of his leadership of the Lord's hosts. 
 
 Jewish Ritual Baptisms. 
 
 The next text of Scripture claiming attention is Heb. 9:10: 
 "Which stood only in meats and drinks and divers washings." 
 The word translated "washings" in the Greek, as written by the 
 inspired author, is "baptisms," alluding to those ceremonies prac- 
 ticed by the Jewish Church. It is again necessary to "search the 
 Scriptures" of the Old Testament to determine the mode of these 
 "divers baptisms." Leviticus 14:5-7 furnishes one of them, the 
 ceremonial purification of the leper. "And the priest shall com- 
 mand that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over 
 running water ... and he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be 
 cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him 
 clean." Leprosy is universally acknowledged as the type of sin; 
 the leper is the type of the sinner ; and the cleansing of the leper 
 typical of the sinner's cleansing. This sprinkling of the leper is 
 one of the "divers baptisms" mentioned in Heb. 9:10. Still an- 
 other may be found in Numbers 8:6, 7, and is the consecration 
 of the Levites: "Take the Levites from among the children of 
 Israel, and cleanse them, and thus shalt thou do unto them to 
 cleanse them : Sprinkle water of purifying upon them." The cere- 
 monial purification of one who was unclean from touching a dead 
 body was a third instance of these "divers baptisms." Numbers 
 19:17-19: "And for an unclean person they shall take the ashes 
 of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water 
 shall be put thereto in a vessel; and a clean person shall take 
 hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it upon the tent and 
 upon all the vessels and upon the persons, . . . and the clean 
 person shall sprinkle upon the unclean." 
 
 92 
 
Heie are three illustrations — ^the sprinkling of the leper, the 
 sprinkling of the Levites, and the sprinkling of the unclean — to 
 which the inspired writer refers, when he speaks of "divers bap- 
 tisms" among the Israelites. There is not one solitary instance 
 among the Israelites where one person ever immersed another, and 
 as there were no immersions, there can be no question but that 
 the "divers baptisms" were these sprinklings. The context which 
 follows leaves no room for doubt, for after alluding in verse 10 
 to the "divers baptisms," Paul proceeds to enumerate at least two 
 instances, mentioning in verse 13 that "the ashes of an heifer 
 sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh," 
 and in verse 19, alluding to the consecration at Sinai, he says: 
 "For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people ac- 
 cording to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with 
 water, and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book 
 and all the people.'* 
 
 Prophetic Baptisms. 
 
 Having by these texts exhibited the mode of baptism under the 
 Mosaic law, let us examine the practice and usages of the prophetic 
 age. In Isaiah 52:15, in the midst of the remarkable prophecy 
 of the Messiah, which reads like history instead of prophecy, 
 occurs the striking announcement: "So shall He sprinkle many 
 nations." Any reference Bible will refer to the day of Pentecost 
 for its fulfillment, when three thousand were baptized in a day. 
 Ezek. 36:24, 25, contains the prediction of the restoration and 
 conversion of the Jews: "For I will take you from among the 
 heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and bring you into 
 your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and 
 ye shall be clean." The value of these prophetical references is 
 twofold : ( 1 ) showing the mode of ceremonial cleansing practiced 
 at that time; and (2) containing the prediction, incidentally, that 
 these same practices will continue in the Christian dispensation. 
 Will these prophecies never be fulfilled ? Shall we affirm that all 
 other predictions shall come to pass except those which foretell 
 that the mode of Christian purification in the Christian dispensa- 
 
 93 
 
tion will be by sprinkling? Bound up with the prophecy of the 
 conversion of the Jews is their mode of purification. Will any 
 one presume to separate them, and maintain the conversion of the 
 Jews, but deny that part of the prophecy which affirms, "Then will 
 I sprinkle clean water upon you"? "For verily I say unto you, 
 Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise 
 pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." 
 
 Every type and shadow of the Old Testament is fulfilled in 
 the New. All the blood-shedding and sacrifices found their ful- 
 filment in the Cross, commemorated every Sabbath in a perpetual 
 sacrament, the Lord's Supper. To what did the purifications with 
 water so numerous in the Old Testament point in the New Testa- 
 ment? How are these sprinklings with water fulfilled except in 
 the other sacrament of the Church, now called baptism ? Through- 
 out the whole Old Testament there is never one instance where 
 one person is ever commanded to immerse another nor any record 
 of an immersion ever having been performed ; but, on the contrary, 
 every command to purify with water is, without exception, by 
 sprinkling. The mode of cleansing in the Old Testament, at least, 
 is beyond dispute. 
 
 The Baptism of Christ. 
 
 Proceeding in this inquiry to the New Testament, the first 
 instance is John's baptism, and the most notable case is the ad- 
 ministration of this baptism upon the person of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ : "And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway 
 out of the water." This is the favorite text of the immersionists. 
 "If He came up out of the water He must have been immersed," 
 is their argument. But they furnish no proofs. Immersion is 
 nothing but their inference. They might just as well argue that 
 the Israelites were immersed because they "were all baptized in 
 the sea," and they would so maintain if the possibility of immer- 
 sion were not barred by the Mosaic account. On the contrary, 
 the proofs against immersion in the case of Christ's baptism are 
 irresistible to an unbiased mind. 
 
 This was the baptism of a Jew by a Jew, and hence there is 
 
 94 
 
the strongest reason to believe that it was according to the Jewish 
 mode. Never was there a sect who clung with more tenacity to 
 their forms and ceremonies than the Jews. The "hyssop," the 
 "running water" and the "sprinkling" were as essential to their 
 mode of baptism as immersion is to certain others. To ask the 
 mode of Christ's baptism is simply to inquire the mode of baptism 
 practiced by the Church of which Christ was a member ; and who- 
 ever denies that it was according to the prevalent mode in the 
 Jewish Church must give some better proof than an inference. 
 If immersion had been the prevalent mode in the Jewish Church, 
 and one should affirm that Christ's was by a different mode, the 
 burden of proof would rest upon him to prove that a change of 
 mode had taken place. "Why did they go to the river, if not for 
 immersion?" is considered the unanswerable question, and yet no 
 question admits of an easier solution. How else could they get 
 the "running water" required in sufficient quantities for the multi- 
 tudes except at the river ? The Jews still practice the same mode 
 of baptism that has been in existence since the days of Moses. 
 
 There is still another strong proof that Christ's baptism was by 
 sprinkling. Why was Jesus baptized at all? Not being a sinner, 
 He had no need of purification typified by baptism. John felt the 
 weight of such a consideration, and only yielded when Christ 
 removed his difficulty by affirming : "Thus it becometh us to fulfil 
 all righteousness." What "righteousness" was fulfilled? What 
 law was obeyed in His baptism? There has never been given but 
 one satisfactory answer to these questions : The baptism of Jesus 
 was His consecration to His priesthood at the beginning of His 
 public ministry. That He was our High Priest is unquestioned ; 
 and being just thirty years old, exactly the age at which every 
 priest was consecrated to his office, confirms the belief that this 
 was the meaning of His baptism. The law of consecration to the 
 priesthood is set forth in Numbers 8 :7 : '^Sprinkle water of puri- 
 fying upon them"; and to that law our great High Priest sub- 
 mitted in fulfilment of "all righteousness." This was the belief of 
 the ancient church, as is seen by the oldest pictures of Christ's 
 
 95 
 
baptism, representing Him standing in the water, and John pour- 
 ing the water upon Him out of a shell. 
 
 New Testament Usage of Tenns. 
 
 Two passages of Scripture next claim attention, showing a 
 similarity in the use of the word "baptize" by the inspired writers. 
 Mark 7 : 4, "And when they come from the market, except they 
 wash, they eat not." Luke 11 :38 ; "And when the Pharisee saw 
 it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner." In 
 each of these texts the word translated "wash" is "baptize" in the 
 Greek. The purification, which every Jew performed before each 
 meal by handwashing, sprinkling himself, is called baptism by 
 Mark and Luke. Even if it should be said the baptism had refer- 
 ence only to the hands, that would avail nothing, for the Jewish 
 mode of handwashing was by pouring water upon them. Unless, 
 then, it can be believed that the Jew immersed himself before 
 every meal, we have these two sacrd writers (in addition to Paul, 
 Heb. 9:10, "divers baptisms") using baptism and sprinkling as 
 synonymous. 
 
 Baptism by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 The strongest class of texts yet examined is Acts 1 :5, etc. 
 "John truly baptized with wdter ; but ye shall be baptized with 
 the Holy Ghost not many days hence." Water baptism is then the 
 symbol of baptism by the Holy Ghost. Baptism with water is 
 the picture; baptism with the Holy Ghost is the original of the 
 picture. Ritual baptism is the shadow, of which spiritual baptism 
 is the substance. If the picture is to be perfect, it must conform 
 as nearly as possible to the original. In what manner were the 
 Apostles baptized with the Holy Ghost ? Acts 2:3, 4. "And 
 there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it 
 sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy 
 Ghost." Peter explained the mode of this baptism more explicitly 
 in Acts 2:17, as being the fulfilment of Joel's prophecy, "And it 
 shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My 
 Spirit upon all flesh," etc. Under the same figure of pouring, he 
 announces in verse 33, "Having received of the Father the promise 
 
 96 
 
of tlie Holy Ghost, He (Jesus) hath shed forth this." So, in 
 like manner, the baptism of Cornelius with water was suggested by 
 the baptism of the Spirit. Acts 10:44-48. "While Peter yet 
 spake these words the Holy Ghost fell on all them. . . . On the 
 Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. . . . 
 Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these 
 should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as 
 well as we ?" Peter's defence of his conduct in baptizing Gentiles 
 was their baptism by the Holy Ghost. Acts 11 : 15, 16. "As I 
 began to speak the Holy Ghost fell upon them, as on us at the 
 beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that 
 He said, John indeed baptized with water ; but ye shall be baptized 
 with the Holy Ghost." Is it not remarkable that in every instance 
 where the baptism of the Spirit is spoken of, it is invariably under 
 the figure of an outpouring; or in language which suggests pour- 
 ing as the mode of baptism by the Holy Ghost ? Is it not equally 
 remarkable that the Spirit's baptism is never alluded to anywhere 
 in Scripture under the figure of immerson; nor in any language 
 which suggests immersion. It would be still more remarkable, if 
 immersion should be the mode of water baptism, and pouring the 
 mode of the Spirit's baptism ! In that case the type and the anti- 
 type, the symbol and the thing symbolized, would have no simi- 
 larity! If, then, water baptism symbolizes the baptism of the 
 Spirit, and the lattef is everywhere in Scripture alluded to under 
 the figure of affusion, it is perfectly manifest that water baptism 
 can never so appropriately represent the baptism of the Spirit, as 
 when performed by pouring the water upon the subject. 
 
 Individual Baptisms. 
 
 Three special instances of baptism must now be considered. 
 Acts 8 : 38 : "And He commanded the chariot to stand still : and 
 they went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and 
 He baptized him." Seldom has an immersion ever been per- 
 formed without reading this text as proof of its legitimacy; and 
 yet never did so much confidence rest upon such a slender basis. 
 The bone of contention is the Greek preposition translated "into." 
 If it means "into" then the immersionist must prove that it was 
 
 97 
 
not a Jewish baptism of going into the "running water" and 
 sprinkling. If it does not mean "into," then the immersionist 
 finds no support in this case. If any one will take the trouble to 
 examine the preposition translated "into" he will find that it occurs 
 about fifteen hundred times in the New Testament ; about half of 
 the number are translated "in" or "into", and the other half "to" 
 or "unto." So that in this case a doubtful preposition is the 
 strongest support the immersionist can bring to establish a still 
 more doubtful mode. The fact that they went "down" does not 
 imply that their object was to get "into water." Read in the Greek 
 verse 31 in connection with verse 38, and the antithesis between 
 "up" and "down" will be perfectly manifest. In verse 31, Philip 
 is invited "up" into the chariot with the eunuch, and in verse 38 
 that action is reversed; they went "down" from the chariot. If 
 this text proves anything about the mode of baptism, it lends its 
 support to sprinkling ; for the very passage of Scripture which the 
 eunuch was reading at that time, and which he asked Philip to 
 expound, was the celebrated prophecy of Isaiah concerning the 
 Messiah, containing the prediction : "So shall he sprinkle many 
 nations." (Isa. 52:15.) 
 
 Acts 9: 18, 19: "And immediately there fell from his eyes as 
 it had been scales : and he received his sight forthwith, and arose 
 and was baptized. And when he had received meat he was 
 strengthened." This was the baptism of Paul, a sick man. He 
 was baptized standing, for the Greek translated "arose" is literally 
 "having stood up." After his baptism he "received meat and was 
 strengthened." If the mode had been immersion, the baptism 
 would have been postponed (as is invariably done in these days) 
 until he was restored to health ; but the Scriptural mode of sprink- 
 ling does not endanger the health even of the sick; and hence it 
 was performed immediately. 
 
 Acts 16: 33 : "And he took them the same hour of the night and 
 washed their stripes and was baptized he and all his straightway." 
 This was the baptism of the jailor and all his children, at the 
 strange hour of midnight, in an Eastern prison, and just after 
 an earthquake that had shaken open the prison doors and had 
 shaken off the prisoners' shackles. Those searching for immer- 
 
 98 
 
sion "infer" or "suppose" that they all started off to a river, men, 
 women and children, at such an hour, leaving a dismantled prison 
 and prisoners at liberty to escape, for whom the jailor was 
 answerable with his life! Nor is it very probable that the jailor 
 would risk his life by permitting even Paul and Silas beyond the 
 walls of the prison, after the significant charge "to keep them 
 safely." Then the language of Paul in verse 37 could not have 
 been used by an honest man, if he had already been ranging 
 abroad, and yet affirming that having been illegally imprisoned, 
 he would not leave that prison until justice had been done to his 
 character. The necessary inference is, that the midnight baptism 
 took place within prison walls, and by the only mode possible in 
 such circumstances. 
 
 Baptism Into Death. 
 
 It is necessary to consider only one more passage of Scripture — 
 Rom. 6:3, 4: "Know ye not, that so many of us were baptized 
 into Christ, were baptized into His death? Therefore we are 
 buried with Him by baptism into death/* Upon this passage are 
 founded the "watery burials" and "liquid graves," which are never 
 found in Scripture, but exist only in the imagination of immer- 
 sionists. Was there ever a more striking contrast than that be- 
 tween the "watery burial" of the immersionist and the scriptural 
 burial of this text? The element of the immersionist is water; 
 the element of this text is Christ's death. The immersionist bap- 
 tizes into water; but this text baptizes ^Hnto death/' The im- 
 mersionist buries the individual alone ; this text describes a burial 
 zvith Christ when He was buried. The immersionist performs 
 a temporary burial; this text describes a permanent condition. 
 The immersionist cay say, "We were buried each one separately 
 in water''; but this text describes those who can say "We are 
 buried with Christ by baptism into death." 
 
 The mistake of the immersionist rests upon the error of sup- 
 posing that our mode of burial was in the mind of Paul as the 
 basis of the figure, whereas our mode of burial was not then in 
 existence. There may be some slight resemblance between our 
 mode, of burial and immersion; but there was not the slightest 
 
 99 
 
between the Jewish mode of burial and immersion. They did 
 not lower a body into the ground as we do at present, but laid 
 it on a shelf in a cave or sepulcher. Between burial in Paul's 
 mind and a supposed "watery burial" there was no more resem- 
 blance than there is between a block of marble and the Colossus of 
 Rhodes. Nor can it be said that Paul was writing to the Romans 
 and alluded to their mode of burial, for their custom was to 
 burn the dead. 
 
 If the immersionist undertakes to symbolize the burial of Christ, 
 why not attempt also to represent his crucifixion, for in the same 
 place where we are said to be "buried with Christ", we are also 
 said to be "crucified with Christ"? Whatever interpretation we 
 put upon "crucified with Christ", must of necessity attach to the 
 similar expression, "buried with Christ." Such language every- 
 where else in Scripture is admitted to denote oiir union with 
 Christ legally; so that when He was crucified, in the eyes of the 
 law we were crucified with Him; when He was buried, we were 
 "buried with Him." Baptism cannot represent a "burial" and a 
 "cleansing from sin" at the same time. The two things are utterly 
 incongruous — exactly opposites. 
 
 If baptism represents the burial and resurrection of Christ then 
 we have two separate institutions, representing His resurrection, 
 viz: The change of the Sabbath from the last to the first day of 
 the week, and baptism. Nor is this all the confusion that would 
 be produced by such a system, for there would be one sacrament 
 in the church, representing the death of Christ, and the other 
 representing His burial, and none to symbolize the work of the 
 Holy Spirit. If the execution of redemption, — the work of 
 Christ, — is symbolized by one sacrament, the Lord's Supper; the 
 application of redemption, — the work of the Spirit, — must be 
 svmbolized by baptism, the other sacrament. 
 
 In conclusion, it is greatly to be regretted that Christ's church 
 should be hopelessly divided by such antagonistic beliefs ; but it is 
 a matter of devout thankfulness, that if we must differ, the matter 
 of dispute is as insignificant as the mode of applying the water. 
 There is no difiference on the fundamental doctrine of the necessity 
 of the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, the only thing that 
 
 100 
 
"cleanseth us from all sin." We have "one Lord, one faith, one 
 baptism"— "One Lord," the Father of us all ; "one fath" in Jesus 
 Christ, His Son ; and "one baptism" by the Holy Spirit. 
 
 101 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ^rerfjpterianisrtn anb tije Cobenant. 
 
 Before entering upon the Scriptural argument justifying infant 
 baptism, allow me first to urge, by way of introduction, that a 
 strong presumption in its favor arises ( 1 ) from a consideration of 
 those principles or relationships in nature upon which society is 
 built; and are recognized in human governments; and (2) from 
 the fact that it has been almost the universal practice of the 
 Church in every age, as may be shown by an appeal to church 
 history. 
 
 Human Relationships. 
 
 The fact that men are members of the state guarantees to their 
 offspring certain state privileges. Their children are born mem- 
 bers of the state, entitled to its protection, government, and dis- 
 cipline. In his minority the infant member of the state is not 
 invested with all the immunities of full citizenship, yet at the same 
 time the state recognizes his citizenship as an inalienable birth- 
 right, inherited from his parents. The state also recognizes and 
 protects his rights to inherit his father's estate by virtue of the 
 relationship between parent and child. Society still further identi- 
 fies the child with parent, so that the very character of the parent, 
 whether honorable or otherwise, casts a halo of glory or a shadow 
 of gloom over the prospects of his offspring. Intemperate and 
 wicked fathers entail suffering and shame upon their little ones; 
 while industrious and godly parents endow their children with a 
 heritage more precious than gold. Shall our children share with 
 us all other blessings except those justly esteemed the greatest of 
 earth? Shall father and child share alike the blessings of human 
 government, the kingdom of man, and yet be separated only by the 
 the Church, the kingdom of God? Can a father ask at the hands 
 of the state the benefit of all its laws in behalf of his offspring in 
 
 102 
 
his minority, and be denied the benefit of the divine laws in the 
 church ? Shall our children share our homes, our fortunes, and our 
 misfortunes and be blessed or cursed with a portion of all that 
 society gives to the parent and nothing to be withheld except the 
 ordinance of our holy religion? 
 
 Historic Practice of the Church. 
 
 This strong presumption is still further increased by the fact 
 that infant baptism has been the prevailing practice of the church 
 in every age. Opposition to it is only four hundred years old; 
 for the first fifteen hundred years of the Christian era it was prac- 
 ticed by the church without its legitimacy being even questioned. 
 Tertullian, about 200 years after Christ, is often quoted as one 
 who opposed the practice, but the supposed opposition of Ter- 
 tullian is proof positive of its prevalence in the early days of 
 Christianity, and at the same time was not directed against it as 
 such. He believed that sin committed after baptism was un- 
 pardonable, and therefore opposed infant baptism and adult 
 baptism alike, and insisted that it should be postponed till the 
 approach of death, so that no sin would be committed after the 
 baptism. Origen, still earlier, the most learned of all the Church 
 Fathers, was himself baptized in infancy, and says the custom of 
 baptizing infants was received from the Apostles. It can be 
 traced almost to the days of the Apostles by the writings of 
 Irenaeus (about 120 A. D.), who says: "He (Christ) came to 
 save, through means of Himself, all who through Him are born 
 again to God^nfants, children, and boys, and youths, and old 
 men !" In the writings of Irenaeus "born again" and baptism are 
 used synonymously, so that we have in these writings proof of 
 infant baptism within a few years after the death of John, the last 
 of the Apostles. In other words, infant baptism can be traced as 
 far back in the history of the Church as we have any Christian 
 literature. Now, these two introductory considerations are not 
 adduced as an argument in themselves establishing the right of 
 children to baptism and church membership, but as a presumption 
 in their favor. 
 
 103 
 
I. 
 
 The Covenants and the Children. 
 
 The baptism of children (which is not admitting them to 
 church privileges, but is an acknowledgement of their birthright 
 by the church) finds its basis in those covenant relations estab- 
 lished by Jehovah in his moral government, whether the con- 
 stitution of that government is "modified by the covenant of 
 works" or "by the covenant of grace." This covenant is grounded 
 in the everlasting promise of a "covenant-keeping God." Was 
 there ever a covenant established that did not include children : 
 "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so 
 by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous" (Rom. 
 5:19). If Adam could represent his posterity, so that his act 
 entailed upon them the curse of sin, "and death by sin," and if 
 Christ could represent his seed, and thereby confer righteousness, 
 and with it eternal life, surely there can be nothing objectionable 
 in that plan which makes the parental relationship the basis of 
 certain blessings to his offspring ; and, as a consequence, the faith 
 of the parent a sound reason and solid ground upon which to rest 
 the baptism of the child. 
 
 They who object to this principle must arm themselves against 
 the divine economy in every age. It is beyond dispute that children 
 were destroyed in the flood with their parents, and that the de- 
 struction of Sodom and Gomorrah overwhelmed in their ruin 
 parents and children alike. Upon the same principle it was said 
 to Noah, "Come thou and all thy house into the ark : for thee have 
 I seen righteous." (Gen. 7:1.) The ark is usually regarded as 
 the type of the church ; and yet Noah's children are sheltered, not 
 on account of their individual righteousness, but on his account 
 alone. It matters not though it be urged that Noah's children 
 were adults. That strengthens the argument; for if adult children 
 shared his salvation on account of his righteousness, much more 
 would they, had they been innocent babes. 
 
 The covenants made with Noah, Abraham, and Israel at various 
 times invariably included their children. A specimen is furnished 
 in the institution of the Passover. As the destroying angel passed 
 
 104 
 
through the land on that memorable night, commissioned to smite 
 the first-born in every house not protected by the blood-spot on 
 the door, guaranteeing the fulfilment of the promise, "When I see 
 the blood I will pass over you," the life or death of the child, 
 though but an infant in the cradle, was dependent upon the faith 
 of the parent, manifested by sprinkling the blood. 
 
 The same principle may be illustrated by cases furnished in the 
 New Testament. By the faith of the Syrophenician woman her 
 daughter was healed ; by the faith of the nobleman of Capernaum 
 his son was restored to health; by the faith of Jarius, to whom 
 Christ said, "Only believe," his daughter was raised from the 
 dead ; by the faith of the father, whose struggle between faith and 
 unbelief was so agonizing that he cried out, "Lord, I believe, help 
 thou mine unbelief," his son was delivered from the power of the 
 demon. So likewise the spiritual blessing conferred by Christ upon 
 the children of parents whose faith brought them to Jesus is a 
 crowning proof of the principle stated ; and which is further 
 affirmed by Paul : "Else were your children unclean, but now they 
 are holy" (1 Cor. 7:14). 
 
 The Abraham! c Covenant. 
 
 "And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee, and 
 thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting 
 covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee . . . 
 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin ; and it shall be 
 a token of the covenant betwixt Me and you. And he that is eight 
 days old shall be circumcised among you." (Gen. 17 : 7, 11.) The 
 circumcision, being the seal of the righteousness he had, was 
 applied, not only to Abraham, but also to his children, — ^the "ever- 
 lasting covenant" thus established being the charter of the Church 
 of God. During the patriarchal dispensation the family contained 
 in its bosom two institutions, the state and the church. From this 
 period each is to appear distinct from the family; and now in the 
 family of Abraham the church is to be visibly organized as a cor- 
 porate body gathering into itself many families: "And in thee 
 shall all families of the earth be blessed." Can any other trans- 
 action in the Scripture be found even resembling the organization 
 
 105 
 
of the church ? What various and discordant answers are given by 
 those who attempt to discover the organization of the church else- 
 where in Scripture. "The church was founded by John the 
 Baptist," say some. Where is the proof ? On the contrary, John 
 attempted no organization of any kind, contenting himself with a 
 call to repentance as a preparation for the coming Messiah. "The 
 church was founded by Christ," say others. Where? Give us the 
 chapter and verse showing anything resembling such an organiza- 
 tion. Instead, Christ proclaimed that he had not come to "destroy" 
 and establish something else, but to "fulfill," and on every occasion 
 recognized the existing church with its ordinances. "The church 
 was organised by the Apostles," is the last assumption as a dernier 
 resort. On the contrary, they disclaimed establishing anything 
 new, and at the Pentecost Peter points backward to the everlasting 
 "promise" — the church established in Abraham's family, — and 
 exclaims, "The promise is unto you and to your children." When 
 Paul reminds the Ephesians of the time (as Gentiles) they were 
 without church-membership and privileges, he does it in a language 
 which shows that the church had previously existed among the 
 descendants of Abraham : "That at that time ye were without 
 Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and 
 strangers from the covenants of promise" (Eph. 2:12). To the 
 Galatians he makes it even plainer, that Christians have not been 
 gathered into a new church, but belong to that of Abraham. 
 "And if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs ac- 
 cording to the promise." (Gal. 3:29.) We insist upon the 
 existence of the church under the Abrahamic charter, and that 
 children were admitted to membership in that church with their 
 parents. At eight days old they were circumcised and recognized 
 as members of the visible church from the time of Abraham till 
 Christ, a period of 2,000 years. 
 
 11. 
 
 The Scriptural Warrant For the Baptism of Children. 
 
 The Circumcision of Christ. 
 
 "And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising 
 of the child, his name was called Jesus" (Luke 2: 21). Through- 
 
 106 
 
out the Old Testament children were circumcised and endowed 
 with many privileges of church membership. Now, the question 
 is: Has infant membership been abolished in the New Testament? 
 If so, where? By whom? Everything in the Old Testament not 
 fulfilled or abrogated must stand. What precept or practice of 
 the New Testament in the slightest conflicts with this principle? 
 That would be a strong presumption of its continuance even if 
 the New Testament were entirely silent about the matter — ^but, 
 on the contrary the New Testament abounds with facts and pre- 
 cepts, supporting the right of the children to baptism and church 
 privileges. First of all, we have the pious parents of Jesus with 
 the seal of circumcision, recognizing his right to membership in 
 the visible church as soon as he was eight days old. When so much 
 is said about "following the example of Christ," why not "follow 
 Him" into the church in infancy, if we have pious parents to claim 
 for us the privileges conferred upon Jesus when eight days old? 
 Is it anywhere intimated that Jesus disapproved of what was done 
 for Him by His parents by reason of their faith in a "covenant- 
 keeping God" ? Did it interfere with his piety or personal religion 
 that He had been dedicated to God in His infancy and received 
 upon His person the seal of the covenant? Is it possible to believe 
 that He was never admitted into the Church till His baptism at 
 thirty years of age, which was His consecration to priesthood? 
 What, then, did He mean by reminding His parents when only 
 twelve years old that He must be about his "Father's business"? 
 If it be said that circumcision only recognized His right to mem- 
 bership in the Jewish Church, we answer that the Jewish Church 
 was the Church of God. God has never had but one church in 
 this world. The Jewish Church and the Christian Church are but 
 one and the same church under different dispensations. 
 
 If the church of the Old Testament and the church of the New 
 have the same theology, the same instrumentality of salvation, the 
 same sacraments and the same constitution, the conclusion is 
 irresistible that it must be the same church, the Church of Christ 
 under all dispensations and, consequently, if children had the 
 privilege of church membership in the Old Testament, their rights 
 must remain, unless it can be shown in the New Testament that 
 
 107 
 
they are now for the first time in its history to be excluded from 
 the church. There is a distinct record of the struggle with which 
 the church resisted the giving up of circumcision. If they had 
 been called upon to give up the privileges their children had always 
 enjoyed in the church, would not there likewise have been some 
 record of their protest? 
 
 Christ and the Children. 
 
 "And there were brought unto Him also infants that He would 
 touch them" (Luke 18:15). "Little children" (Matt. 19:13). 
 "Young children" (Mark 10: 13). "Suffer little children" (Matt. 
 Mark and Luke). "And his disciples rebuked those that brought 
 them. But when Jesus saw it He was much displeased, and said 
 unto them . . . for of such is the kingdom of God . . . And 
 He took them up in His arms and put His hands upon them and 
 blessed them" (Mark 10:13-16). "Of such is the kingdom of 
 Heaven" (Matt. 19: 13). It is not claimed that it was some tem- 
 poral blessing conferred or bodily infirmity healed, but it is 
 universally admitted that Christ's blessing in this case was spiritual. 
 Then, after all, "unconscious infants" are capable of receiving the 
 blessings of our Saviour. Are pious parents excluded from the 
 privilege of now bringing their offspring to the Saviour for His 
 benediction? Has He so changed since His ascension to heaven 
 that He who "took them up in His arms," has no longer any bless- 
 ing for our little ones in their infancy? 
 
 If Christ rebuked his disciples for forbidding the approach of 
 infants, who will merit today the rebuke of the Master for re- 
 sisting the claims of the children? But some insist that these 
 "infants" were the youth of the land, old enough to appreciate the 
 blessing of Christ, just as if our Master could not bless "uncon- 
 scious infants." Such an explanation is, however, robbed of its 
 force by the fact that Jesus "took them up in his arms," which 
 demonstrated beyond a doubt their infancy. It is not claimed 
 that Christ baptized these children, for He did not baptize any, 
 either children or adults (John 4:2), but He did distinctly and 
 emphatically proclaim their church membership when he declared : 
 "Of such is the kingdom of heaven." What is the "kingdom of 
 
 108 
 
heaven"? Is it the church on earth? If so, then we have the 
 statement of the "Head of the Church" that children are included 
 within the pale of His Church. Is it the church in heaven? If 
 so, then the church of earth, which admits children to a place in 
 the fold, is nearest in resemblance, at least in this respect, to the 
 church of heaven. Does not the "kingdom of heaven" or "king- 
 dom of God," include both, being the church on earth under all the 
 various dispensations and the church in glory? All Christians 
 sing: 
 
 "The saints on earth and all the dead, 
 But one communion make, 
 All join in Christ, the living Head, 
 And of His grace partake. 
 One family we dwell in Him, 
 One church, above, beneath," etc. 
 
 This is Scriptural doctrine, for Paul announces : "Of whom the 
 whole family in heaven and earth is named" (Eph. 3 : 15). Christ 
 is sufficient authority that children belong to this "family," "for of 
 such is the kingdom of heaven." But we are told that this language 
 does not mean that children belong to the church but that Christ 
 only meant "such" characters: "Whosoever shall not receive the 
 kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein" 
 (Luke 18: 17). That would then be the most remarkable state- 
 ment in all the Bible! It would be equivalent to saying the 
 characters of those within the church must be like a certain class 
 who are zvithout the church ! On the contrary, Christ makes two 
 distinct statements, which must not for a moment be confounded : 
 ( 1 ) He affirms of the children in his arms, "Of such is the king- 
 dom of heaven," thereby establishing their place in the New 
 Testament Church as well as in the same church of a former dis- 
 pensation. (2) He announces that these infant members of "the 
 kingdom" furnish a type of character to which adult members 
 must conform : "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God 
 as a little child," etc. 
 
 How can any one, therefore, for an instant twist the plain lan- 
 guage of Christ into this shape : "Suffer the little children to come 
 
 109 
 
unto me" for a blessing, because adults with child-like characters 
 alone belong to "the kingdom" ! And having made that statement 
 should immediately proceed to draw an inference from the fore- 
 going, which is identical with the first statement! What, then is 
 the difference between the statement, "Of such (characters) is 
 the kingdom of heaven" and the inference (from the statement) 
 that such characters alone belong to the kingdom, "Whoever shall 
 not receive the kingdom of God as a little child" ? The only way 
 out of such a tangled maze is to keep distinct and unconfounded 
 the two statements of Christ. (1) Infant membership in the 
 kingdom, "Of such is the kingdom"; and (2) The child-like 
 character required of adults, "Whosoever shall not receive . . . 
 as a little child." If, then, Christ received and blessed the children, 
 and recognized their privileges in His church, we have the same 
 warrant as those parents for bringing our oflFspring for His 
 blessing to that Jesus, who is "the same yesterday and today and 
 forever." 
 
 The Fold and the Lambs. 
 
 ''And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also 
 I must bring and they shall hear my voice ; and there shall be one 
 fold and one shepherd" (John 10:16). "Feed my lambs" (John 
 21:15). There can be no doubt in the minds of any that the 
 "fold" is the church. The command given Peter by the Shepherd 
 of the fold implies that Christ has "lambs." The command to 
 the church through Peter to "feed" means something more than 
 giving spiritual instruction, but includes all a shepherd's care of 
 governing, guiding and feeding. Now the question is, are those 
 "lambs" within the "fold" or are they outside of the "fold"? 
 Does any shepherd erect a fold for the sheep and make no pro- 
 vision for the lambs ? Is there no place in Christ's "fold" for the 
 "lambs"? If "the Lord is my shepherd," is there no provision for 
 my child, and must we for years be separated by the very walls of 
 the "fold" itself? If the church is commanded to "feed" His 
 lambs and to "feed" His sheep, are the sheep to be fed ivithin the 
 fold and the lambs to be fed without? Sheep are never lambs, but 
 lambs are always sheep and entitled to all the privileges of the 
 
 110 
 
sheep. Most of these arguments are intended to establish first of 
 all infant membership in the church, because if they are in the 
 kingdom, who shall forbid us applying the seal of the kingdom 
 (the ordinance of baptism), which recognises their right to a place 
 in the church? Infant church membership and infant baptism 
 cannot be separated. Having then established conclusively by 
 Scripture that God's Church has in every age included in its fold 
 the children, that fact establishes their right to baptism. 
 
 Pentecost and the Promise. 
 
 "Repent and be baptized, every one of you . . . for the 
 promise is unto you and to your children" (Acts 2:38, 39). So 
 spoke Peter at Pentecost, who had received from Christ the com- 
 mand "Feed my lambs." To what "promise" could Peter possibly 
 refer, except that made to "Abraham and his seed" ? In the very 
 next chapter when he again commands to "repent" he quotes 
 part of the "promise" to Abraham: "And in thy seed shall all 
 the kindreds of the earth be blessed" (Acts 3 : 25). According to 
 Peter then, the Abrahamic charter of the church is not revoked, 
 but the "everlasting covenant" remains in force. Paul asserts the 
 same thing time and again : "Know ye therefore that they which 
 are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham" (Gal. 3:7). 
 "So then, they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abra- 
 ham" (Gal. 3:9). "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's 
 seed and heirs according to promise" (Gal. 3:29). But if the 
 "everlasting covenant" still stands, then children still retain their 
 privilege under that covenant. Peter's language at Pentecost is 
 very striking and significant. In the very same connection in 
 which he suggests baptism, he includes children: "Unto you and 
 to your children." If a bequest were left us with the express 
 provision — "unto you and to your children," there would be no 
 difficulty in understanding that the children must share it. If 
 then, Peter says, "Be baptized every one of you ... for the 
 promise is unto you and to your children," how can the conclusion 
 be escaped that the children must share that baptism ? What more 
 "explicit command" could we desire than the plain statement of 
 Peter, that the "everlasting covenant" with Abraham still exists; 
 
 111 
 
and in the very command to "be baptized," Peter makes the 
 appHcation — "unto you and to your children." 
 
 But the objection is here raised, that it says "Repent and be 
 baptized," and as the children cannot "repent," therefore they are 
 excluded from baptism ; and it is further said, "He that believeth 
 and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16: 16) ; and now as chil- 
 dren cannot believe they therefore ought not to be baptized. The 
 reply is, if that rules children out of the privilege of baptism, it 
 also, for the same reason, would prevent their salvation, for it is 
 said "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that 
 believeth not shall be damned/' So that if children cannot "be- 
 lieve" in order to be "baptized" neither can they "believe" in order 
 to be "saved." If such texts, — which insist on faith and re- 
 pentance, are quoted to prove the impossibility of believing, even 
 in the face of "he that believeth not shall be damned" — is no bar- 
 rier to their salvation, then we are compelled to admit that neither 
 is the impossibility of believing any barrier to their baptism. If 
 that text requires faith in order to baptism, it just as plainly re- 
 quires faith in order to salvation. If, then that text will allow 
 the salvation of infants without believing, it will also allow the 
 baptism of infants without believing. 
 
 Circumcision and Baptsim. 
 
 "In whom ye are also circumcised with the circumcision made 
 without hands, . . . buried with Him in baptism" (Col. 2: 11). 
 Paul here alludes to the identity of the two sacraments, circum- 
 cision and baptism. We have already spoken of the fact that they 
 have the same significance, — circumcision teaching the necessity of 
 regeneration and purification, and baptism signifying the same 
 thing, "the washing of regeneration." The language of Paul 
 plainly implies that circumcision gives place to baptism. Then 
 we need only inquire who were circumcised, in order to determine 
 who should be baptized; and as children were always included 
 with their parents in one they should therefore share in the other. 
 
 Here another objection demands answer : "None except males 
 were circumcised, therefore none but males ought to be baptized." 
 That would be good logic, if we had nothing except an inference 
 
 112 
 
warranting female baptism; but we have elsewhere in the New 
 Testament other facts, which justify the baptism of females. The 
 baptism of Lydia and others relieves us of all the force of this 
 objection. Because one among the many arguments for infant 
 baptism is the "good and necessary inference," that infant circum- 
 cision necessitated infant baptism, it is not therefore become null 
 and void, because we learn elsewhere in Scripture that females 
 share baptism. In England the eldest son inherits the title of the 
 father, but if the law should be so enlarged as to include the other 
 children in the title, that would not make void the rights of the 
 first-born and all the rest to the title. The enlargement of the 
 number does not vitiate the rights of all to the inheritance. The 
 objection is really against drawing inferences from the circum- 
 cision of children to the baptism of children; and yet they who 
 object to the inference cannot produce one of equal force for 
 admission of females to the Lord's Supper. The Church uni- 
 versally admits females to the communion and their only warrant 
 is an inference not so strong as that which justifies infant baptism. 
 If the objector justifies females at the Lord's Supper by quoting: 
 "Their is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ 
 Jesus" (Gal. 3:28), then that same text will answer his own 
 objection about baptizing none but males, and so he is made to 
 devour himself. 
 
 The Status of Children. 
 
 "Else were your children unclean, but now they are holy," (L 
 Cor. 7:14). If this language has any meaning at all, it plainly 
 signifies that the ecclesiastical status of the parent determines that 
 of the child. The meaning of this text depends upon the meaning 
 of its two designations — "unclean" (akatharta) and "holy" 
 (hagia). The first appears numerously in Scriptures, and is 
 almost invariably used for what is ceremonially unclean, and for 
 that reason excluded from the congregation ; and the remedy for 
 this uncleanliness was nearly always the application of water. 
 So that when Paul says, "Else were your children unclean," it 
 had exactly the same signification to a Jew as if he had said, 
 else were your children unbaptized. So the other word "holy" 
 
 lis 
 
here used to describe children of church members is the identical 
 word frequently employed for church members themselves, and 
 translated "saints". It is thus used in the New Testament sixty- 
 two times, and eleven of them in the Epistles to this Corinthian 
 church. So if we were to translate this word, as it is so frequent- 
 ly translated in the New Testament, it would read, "But now 
 are they saints," exactly what their parents are called. The same 
 word "saints" being thus applied, not only to church members, 
 but also to their children, shows that the relationship of the parent 
 to the Church determines the relationship of the child to the 
 Church. 
 
 The First Baptism. 
 
 "And were all baptized unto Moses." (I Cor. 10:2.) This text 
 is valuable, not only as furnishing an apostolic example of the use 
 of the word "baptism" where immersion is out of the question, but 
 also as furnishing unmistakable evidence of the baptism of chil- 
 dren. If they were all baptized, were the children included or 
 specially excluded ? Or will some one undertake to say that there 
 were no children in those "households" that crossed the Red Sea ? 
 At the Red Sea there is nothing indicating a figurative baptism. 
 The Israelites — men, women and children — were the subjects. 
 Were they figures of speech? The water was real, and not a 
 figure. "Baptized unto Moses." Was he a figure of speach? If Paul 
 had spoken of the immersed Egyptians as all being baptized, 
 there would have been no effort then to force the language of 
 Paul out of its natural and obvious sense into the constraint of 
 figure, Paul was not indulging in "Figures of speech," but deal- 
 ing with plain facts, when he asserts that they were "baptized 
 unto Moses" — baptized into an acceptance of him as their divinely 
 appointed leader. Whether "figurative" or not, the children shared 
 this baptism with their fathers; and as infant baptism always 
 means their instruction, in this instance they were trained in all 
 that is implied in being "baptized unto Moses" ; and they were the 
 only part of that host "baptized" who reached the land of promise. 
 
 114 
 
Household Baptisms. 
 
 "And when she (Lydia) was baptized and her household" 
 (Acts. 16:17). "And was baptized, he (jailor) and all his, 
 straightaway" (Acts 16:33). "And I baptize also the household 
 of Stephanas" (I Cor. 1:16). Here we have the word of God 
 announcing the baptism of three entire families ; and still another 
 household, that of Cornelius, seems from the record to have been 
 baptized, although not so plainly stated (Acts 10:44-48). Now, 
 we are gravely told by some, that there were no children in any 
 of these various households! Where is the proof? The prob- 
 bility that there were children is so strong that it falls little short 
 of absolute certainty. It would not occcur once in a thousand 
 that you could take at random three or four families from among 
 any people, and there be found no children in a single one of that 
 number. 
 
 It is said the whole family were believers. For example, that 
 the jailor "rejoiced, believing in God with all his house" (Acts 
 16:34). It does have that appearance, so long as we look only 
 at the English translation, but such a consideration forever dis- 
 appears the moment we look at the Greek as written by Luke. 
 There we discover that "believing" is in the singular number, 
 masculine gender, and can refer only to the jailor, so that accord- 
 ing to Luke he alone is said to have believed. It matters not 
 whether his children believed or not, the Word of God does not 
 affirm that they did, but grounds their baptism solely upon the 
 fact that he believed, and hence "all his" were baptized. 
 
 It is remarkable that nothing is said of household baptisms in 
 the New Testament, until the Gentiles and heathen begin to be 
 converted. Not until Peter admitted the Gentile Cornelius is it 
 hinted. Not until Paul leaves Asia and preaches in Europe and 
 Gentiles begin to come in, is it plainly stated. The Jews were 
 familiar with the principle of children sharing with their parents 
 church privileges, and among them it causes no astonishment, 
 and only among the Gentiles is the matter considered of sufficient 
 importance that Luke and Paul record the fact. These household 
 baptisms are stronger proofs of the rights of children to baptism 
 than any command which could have been given; for if it had 
 been said, Baptize the children, every one knows that there is 
 
 115 
 
not a word in Greek for "child," but may apply to youth. So it 
 would be interpreted to mean children old enough to make a 
 profession of religion, just as is attempted by some in reference 
 to the children blessed by Christ. But when we have example 
 after example in the Bible of household baptisms, >ve have proof 
 of infant baptism in that fact, which cannot be set aside. The 
 argument which has been accumulating at every step ; as we 
 witnessed the circumcision of children throughout the Old Testa- 
 ment — thereby guaranteeing to them membership in the visible 
 Church; then with Christ Himself affirming the same, "Of such 
 is the kingdom of heaven" ; with Peter at Pentecost, commanding 
 baptism with the assurance ; "The promise is unto you and to your 
 children" ; now reaches its complete demonstration in the bap- 
 tism of various households. 
 
 When everything else fails the objector, then he raises the 
 question: What good will a little water to an "unconscious 
 babe"? This suggests that there has never been any objection 
 to infant baptism, but may very appropriately be urged against 
 their circumcision as well. Why not ask, what good will circum- 
 cision do the "unconscious babe"? We reply to the objector by 
 saying, the baptism of the child does exactly the same amount 
 of good that the baptism of the adult does. Water baptism is 
 simply symbolical; and if it can represent the cleansing of an 
 adult, why can it not just as appropriately symbolize the cleansing 
 of the child? The regeneration of an adult is the work of the 
 Holy Spirit, in which he is passive, as is the child in its regenera- 
 tion by the Spirit. The adult regenerated becomes a "babe in 
 Christ." The Spirit of God can and does regenerate children as 
 well as adults, for children who die in infancy are regenerated 
 for heaven. John the Baptist and Jeremiah were regenerated 
 in infancy (Jer. 1:5, Luke 1:15). Whilst repudiating bap- 
 tismal regeneration," we argue that if baptism symbolizes the 
 regenerating work of the Spirit, and children are as often the 
 subjects of regenerating grace as adults, then their baptism is 
 just as appropriate, and does the same amount of good as the 
 baptism of adults. 
 
 116 
 
Infant Baptism vs. Infant Salvation. 
 
 In conclusion the very same arguments which prove infant 
 salvation, also establish infant baptism. The Scriptures do not 
 assert the salvation of infants, but it may be proved by "good and 
 necessary inferences" from Scriptures, and no one objects to the 
 proof. Now let any one sum up the proofs for infant salvation, 
 and every one will apply equally to infant baptism. The argu- 
 ments for infant baptism and infant salvation stand or fall 
 together; and the Scriptural proofs of infant baptism are an ad- 
 ditional guarantee of their salvation. 
 
 Bring in then the children into their Father's house, that these 
 infant plants may grow in the garden of the Lord into "trees of 
 righteousness," bearing "much fruit." It is a difficult process to 
 transplant a full-grown tree. "Those that be planted in the house 
 of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall 
 still bring forth fruit in old age ; they shall be fat and flourishing ; 
 to show that the Lord is upright." (Psalm XCII, 13-15.) 
 
 117 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 3l^vtsSbpttviani9im in Action. 
 
 "By their fruits ye shall know them," is the most reliable test 
 of character, — enunciated in the Sermon on *^he Mount. Individu- 
 als must submit to this criterion at the bar of public opinion and 
 eventually at the Judgment throne of God. Systems of phil- 
 osophy and of religion are subjected to a similar test of the 
 Master — "Wisdom is justified of her children." 
 
 Presbyterianism most willingly accepts this challenge and sub- 
 mits its Calvinistic creed to this reasonable test. It is no untried 
 modern system which has demonstrated its practical wisdom in 
 a few favorable circumstances only or on some auspicious occa- 
 sion. It belongs to the ages. It has won its way in all the coun- 
 tries of the globe. It has commanded the admiration of the pro- 
 foundest students of God's Word, commended by the greatest 
 philosophers of the earth, and accepted by the most learned his- 
 torians. Friends and foes have testified alike to its unrivaled 
 achievements in every field of service and its unsurpassed attain- 
 ments in the moral and spiritual spheres of being. Specimens of 
 its achievement in civil and spiritual hemispheres are herein cited 
 as illustrations ; and testimonies of the most distinguished scholars 
 are quoted in proof of its influence in shaping the destiny of indi- 
 viduals and of nations. The mass of material is, however, so vast 
 and varied that the greatest embarrassment confronts in choosing 
 between equally impressive facts and testimony. 
 
 Creeds and Character. 
 
 Ideas rule the world, Thought is more powerful than "an army 
 with banners." Creeds create character consistent with their 
 ideals. It is not a mere coincidence that Calvinism has ruled the 
 world. Cause and eflFect operate not simply in the physical world 
 but as well in the metaphysical and in the spiritual. It is not 
 accidental that Arminian theology is universally associated with 
 
 118 
 
monarchy, while Calvinism, on the other hand, is the natural 
 ally of the largest liberty of the individual. 
 
 Buckle, who, himself a fatalist, cannot be charged with par- 
 tiality toward any church, says : "It is an interesting fact that the 
 doctrines which in England are called Calvinistic have always 
 been connected with a democratic spirit, while those of Arminian- 
 ism have found most favor among the aristocratic, or protective, 
 party. In the Republics, of Switzerland, of North America and 
 of Holland, Calvinism was always the popular creed." 
 
 Very naturally, therefore, Arminianism, taking on an aristo- 
 cratic form of church government, tends toward monarchy in 
 civil affairs, while Calvinism, taking to a republican form of 
 church government as inevitably tends toward a democracy in civil 
 affairs. In the religious, as well as in the natural world, every- 
 thing bears fruit "after its kind." 
 
 I. 
 
 Calvinism and Liberty. 
 
 The torch lighted by John Calvin gave to the world the twin 
 product of republicanism in the state and the free Christian 
 commonwealth in the church. On its political side, it found ex- 
 pression in the republicanism of Geneva, Switzerland, Holland, 
 Great Britain and America, and in its ever-widening influence 
 has made itself felt even in autocratic Russia and despotic Turkey. 
 
 It was Calvinism which lifted Geneva from the depths of civic 
 and moral degradation, and placed it, as a glittering gem of civil 
 and religious liberty, on the brow of Europe, — the first fruits of 
 a new philosophy destined to revolutionize society and human 
 governments. It was Calvinism which, through the instrumen- 
 tality of John Knox, awakened Scotland to a higher life; which 
 hurled the stool of Jennie Geddes at tyrannical encroachments 
 upon religious liberty, and made the sturdy Scotch character the 
 staunchest and grandest national life the world has ever pro- 
 duced. It was Calvinism which took off the head of Charles I 
 and gave England in the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell the 
 first full breath of constitutional liberty, and at the same time 
 
 119 
 
furnished that larger protectorate to struggling Protestantism 
 throughout Europe, making that era the brightest chapter in 
 English history. It was Calvinism which waged successfully 
 under William the Silent, the unequal contest of Holland with 
 Spain, and created the Dutch Republic, which eventually hurled 
 the Stuarts from the throne of England, and guaranteed consti- 
 tutional and religious liberty to the English-speaking world. It 
 was Calvinism which founded in America the greatest of Repub- 
 lics, and made it the Liberator of Cuba and the Phillipines, and 
 the protector of the weaker members in the family of nations. 
 It is Calvinism which, through the agency of Robert College on 
 the Bosphorous and Presbyterian missions in the East, is leaven- 
 ing the Ottoman Empire, and giving even the Turk a taste of 
 constitutional liberty. 
 
 In the historic conflict of the ages, Calvinism was vanquished 
 in France, in the defeat of the Huguenots ; and as a consequence 
 France, the Fatherland of John Calvin, descended almost to the 
 level of Spain. If Spain had triumphed in Holland, in all human 
 probability Calvinism would have perished from the earth, and 
 Holland would also have joined France and Spain in a trio of 
 reactionary nations. In that case, William of Orange would never 
 have turned the scale against the Stuarts in Britain; and North 
 America would read its fate today in the stagnation of South 
 America. So that the glory of North America is due chiefly to 
 the triumph of Calvinism, justifying Ranke, the historian, in 
 speaking of Calvin as "virtual founder of America." 
 
 France. 
 
 This claim, that it was the revolutionary principles of John 
 Calvin, — first embodied and practiced in the Republic of Geneva, — 
 which radiated into all the world, is abundantly substantiated by 
 an appeal to history and to the testimony of the profoundest 
 thinkers and students of all shades of opinion. 
 
 "Calvin's true home," as Schaff says, "was the church of God. 
 He broke through all national limitations. There was scarcely 
 a monarch or statesman or scholar of his age with whom he did 
 not come in contact. Every people of Europe was represented 
 
 120 
 
among his disciples. He helped to shape the religious character 
 of churches and nations as yet unborn. The Huguenots of 
 France, the Protestants of Holland and Belgium, the Puritans and 
 Independents of England and New England, the Presbyterians 
 of Scotland and throughout the world, yea, we may say, the whole 
 Anglo-Saxon race, in its prevailing religious character and insti- 
 tutions, bear the impress of his genius, and show the power and 
 tenacity of his doctrines and principles of government." 
 
 Its temporary defeat in France displacing the leadership of the 
 Huguenots did not detract from the glory of their heroic struggle 
 but simply transferred the fight to other fields. According to the 
 eminent historian Lecky, himself a cold-blooded rationalist, the 
 Huguenots were "the most solid, the most modest, the most vir- 
 tuous, the most generally enlightened element in the French 
 nation." 
 
 The furious persecution that raged against them — of which 
 the massacre was a part and a sample — destroyed or exiled 
 hundreds of thousands of Huguenots. The loss to France was 
 irreparable. "It prepared the way," says Lecky, "for the inevita- 
 ble degradation of the national character and removed the last 
 serious bulwark that might have broken the force of that torrent 
 of scepticism and vice, which, a century later, laid prostrate in 
 merited ruin, both the altar and the throne." 
 
 "Freedom's battle once begun, 
 Bequeath'd by bleeding sire to son, 
 Tho baffled oft, is ever won." 
 
 Holland. 
 
 In Holland the infamous Duke of Alva, backed by Spain, the 
 greatest power of the day, slaughtered the Saints of God and 
 oppressed the people according to his tyrannical will. In William 
 the Silent, however, Calvinism was preparing a leader to fight the 
 battles of freedom which not only liberated Holland, but made its 
 heroic struggle the sublime inspiration to the oppressed of all the 
 ages. In the siege of Leyden the beleaguered band reduced in 
 numbers and suffering the pangs of famine, were sustained solely 
 
 121 
 
by their invincible will and their Calvinistic faith. To the sum- 
 mons to surrender, undaunted they replied: "As long as you 
 hear the mew of a cat or the bark of a dog you may know that 
 the city holds out. And when all have perished but ourselves, we 
 will devour our left arms, retaining our right to defend our women, 
 our liberty, and our religion against the foreign tyrant." No won- 
 der Campbell, writing of the Puritans in Holland, England and 
 America, says of this struggle in Holland : '*Out from this war of 
 eighty years* duration emerged a republic, for two centuries the 
 greatest in the world, a republic which was the instructor of the 
 world in art, and whose corner-stone was religious toleration for 
 all man-kind." Motky, the Historian, credits Calvinism with the 
 victory, affirming : "The doctrine of predestination, the conscious- 
 ness of being chosen soldiers of Christ, inspired the Puritans 
 (Calvinists) who founded the commonwealths of England, of 
 Holland, and of America, with a contempt of toil, danger, and 
 death, which enabled them to accomplish things almost super- 
 natural." It created, under God, the Dutch Republic, and made 
 it "the first free nation to put a girdle of empire around the world." 
 Is it any wonder that William the Silent, disciple of John Calvin, 
 is regarded as the father of religious liberty? 
 
 Scotland. 
 
 Into the School of Calvin at Geneva, with thousands of others 
 came John Knox, who pronounced it "the most perfect school 
 of Christ that ever was since the days of the Apostles." The 
 advent of Knox into Scotland is termed by Carlyle "a resurrec- 
 tion from death" and without whom James Anthony Froude. 
 says: "Scotland as the modern world has known it, would have 
 had no existence. His was the voice which taught the peasant 
 of the Lothians that he was a free man, the equal in the sight 
 of God with the proudest peer or prelate that had tramped on his 
 forefathers. He was the one antagonist whom Mary Stuart 
 could not soften nor Maitland deceive; he it was that raised 
 the poor commons of his country into a stern and rugged people, 
 who might be hard, narrow, superstitious and fanatical, but who, 
 nevertheless, were men whom neither king, noble nor priest could 
 
 122 
 
force again to submit to tyranny. And his reward has been the 
 ingratitude of those who should most have done honor to his 
 memory." 
 
 Rev. Egbert W. Smith, Secretary of Foreign Missions, has 
 well said "Knox made Calvinism the religion of Scotland, and 
 Calvinism made Scotland the moral standard for the world. It 
 is certainly a significant fact that in that country where there is 
 the most of Calvinism there should be the least of crime ; that of 
 all the peoples of the world today that nation which is confessedly 
 the most moral is also the most thoroughly Calvinistic; that in 
 that land where Calvinism has had supremest sway individual 
 and national morality has reached its loftiest level." 
 
 Buckle, in his "History of Civilization," attributes to this source 
 the spirit of liberty: "In their pulpits, in their presbyteries, and 
 in their general assemblies they encouraged a democratic and in- 
 subordinate tone, which eventually produced the happiest results 
 by keeping alive, at a critical moment, the spirit of liberty. At 
 a most hazardous moment they kept alive the spirit of national 
 liberty. What the nobles and the Crown had put in peril, that did 
 the clergy save. By their care the dying spark was kindled into 
 a blaze. When the light grew dim and flickered on the altar, their 
 hands trimmed the lamp and fed the sacred flame. This is their 
 real glory, and on this they may well repose. They were the 
 guardians of Scotch freedom, and they stood to their post." 
 
 England. 
 
 This spark of civil and religious liberty kindled in Scotland 
 spread into England where it smouldered during the reign of 
 James I, but burst into a flame under the leadership of Oliver 
 Cromwell and the Puritans (strict Calvinists) against the en- 
 croachments of Charles I. Though by aid of the Scotch army it 
 triumphed; yet the victory was but temporary and incomplete, 
 owing to the restoration of the Stuarts to the throne. The final 
 deliverance came through the agency of William, Prince of 
 Orange, worthy successor of his great ancestor William the 
 Silent. McFetridge, in "Calvinism in History," describes that 
 which was for Protestantism the most important battle in the 
 
 123 
 
world's history: ''It was the battle of the Boyne (in Ireland, 
 1690) that decided the fate of Protestantism, not only for Great 
 Britain, but for America; and for the world indeed, for had 
 William been defeated there, Protestants could not have found 
 a safe shelter on the face of the earth. 'Orangemen* may there- 
 fore be pardoned for their lively interest in that battle. On one 
 side was James II, whom the poet Wadsworth appropriately calls 
 'The vacillating bondman of the pope,' with an army composed 
 of his Roman Catholic and sympathizing subjects and allies. On 
 the other side was his son-in-law, William, whom the Protest- 
 ants had called from Holland for their deliverance — a little, but 
 not a small man ; pale and sickly ; the world-acknowledged repre- 
 sentative of the reforming cause, with an army much inferior in 
 numbers to that of his royal father-in-law and opponent, but 
 bound together as one man by a common faith and a glorious 
 purpose. The world has never seen such another army. The 
 entire Calvinistic world was represented in it. 
 
 "Less than four years before (October 22, 1685) Louis XIV 
 of France had published the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 
 by which all the rights and privileges of his Calvinistic subjects, 
 the Huguenots, were swept away. This drove thousands upon 
 thousands of them to flee from their native land and seek safety 
 and liberty in other climes. Multitudes of them fled to William 
 in Holland, many of whom were of the best sailors and soldiers 
 of France. This seems indeed to have been a providence by which 
 Williams's army was to be reinforced and the great victory to be 
 won. Under him, at the Boyne, there were Calvinists from 
 England, Ireland, Scotland, Prussia, Finland, Sweden and 
 Switzerland, in addition to his own staunch Hollanders and two 
 hundred English Negro servants, as loyal to Christ and liberty 
 as any under the Orange flag." 
 
 Taine, author of English Literature, commenting on this vic- 
 tory of the Calvinistic forces of the world, says: "These men 
 are the true heroes of England; they display, in high relief, the 
 original characteristics and noblest features of England — prac- 
 tical piety, the rule of conscience, manly resolution, indomitable 
 energy. They founded England, in spite of the corruption of the 
 
 124 
 
Stuarts and the relaxation of modern manners, by the exercise of 
 duty, by the practice of justice, by obstinate toil, by vindication 
 of right, by resistance to oppression, by the conquest of Hberty 
 by the repression of vice. They founded Scotland ; they founded 
 the United States; at this day they are, by their descendants, 
 founding Australia and colonizing the world," 
 
 America. 
 
 This victory forever purchased for England the priceless boon 
 of liberty; but the cause was now transferred to another hemi- 
 sphere. Under the tyrannical Stuarts of England and the bigoted 
 Bourbons of France the noblest blood of both realms had been 
 driven to seek refuge in America. Here followed them the strong 
 hand of the oppressor, which made the American Revolution a 
 dire necessity. Once more the sacrifice and the glory of the con- 
 flict must be awarded Presbyterianism. Both Ranke and Ban- 
 croft, two of the world's great Historians, credit John Calvin 
 with the fatherhood of America. Presbyterians proclaimed the 
 Mecklenburg Declaration at Charlotte, N. C, 1775, one year 
 before the National Charter was signed. Presbyterians composed 
 the larger part of the officers of the Continental army and the 
 volume, of troops which followed Washington from Valley Forge 
 to Yorktown. Presbyterians fought Kings Mountain, recog- 
 nized as the decisive battle of the war. McFetridge declares that 
 "In the war for American independence the dissenting churches 
 arrayed themselves on the side of the colonies, and the Anglican 
 Church arrayed itself on the side of the, Crown. The independent 
 and democratic spirit of Calvinism, cherished in the hearts of 
 its adherents and nourished by their mixed assemblies and free 
 discussions, rose up in rebellion against all despotic measures, 
 whether of church or state, and girded itself again for the great 
 conflict on this western continent." 
 
 The famous Whig Club composed of the leadership of the 
 nation, had for its avowed purpose the liberty of the Colonies 
 and was so largely Presbyterian in its membership that it was 
 dubbed the "Presbyterian Junta." Bancroft asserts that : "It was 
 from Witherspoon of New Jersey that Madison imbibed the les- 
 
son of perfect freedom in matters of conscience. When the con- 
 stitution of New Jersy was formed by a convention composed 
 chiefly of Presbyterians, they estabh'shed perfect liberty of con- 
 science withont the blemish of a test." The Continental Congress, 
 composed largely of Presbyterians, contained only one minister, 
 Rev. John Witherspoon, lineal descendant of John Knox, Presi- 
 dent of Princeton College. At the critical moment when the fate 
 of the Declaration hung trembling in the balance, because some 
 members of Congress hesitated to risk affixing their signatures, 
 it was Witherspoon, the Presbyterian minister, who turned the 
 scales in its favor in the following language: "That noble in- 
 strument upon your table, which ensures immortality to its author, 
 should be subscribed this very morning by every pen in the house. 
 He that will not respond to its accents, and strain every nerve to 
 carry into eflFect its provisions, is unworthy the name of a freeman. 
 For my own part, of property, I have some, of reputation more. 
 That reputation is staked, that property is pledged, on the issue 
 of this contest. And although these gray hairs must soon descend 
 into the sepulchre, I would infinitely rather they should descend 
 thither by the hands of the public executioner than desert at this 
 crisis the sacred cause of my country." 
 
 Dr. McFetridge, in "Calvinism in History," is authority for 
 the following: 
 
 'When Generals Washington, Charles Lee and Schuyler were 
 on their way to assume command of their respective armies, in 
 1775 — ^Washington and Lee going to Boston, and Schuyler to 
 Albany — they arrived in New York on a Sabbath morning in the 
 month of June. And by whom were they met and welcomed to 
 the city? By the volunteer companies, the members of the Pro- 
 vincial Congress of New York, the members of the City Committee 
 and the pastors of the dissenting churches. Washington and Lee 
 were members of the Episcopal Church, but there was not a 
 clergyman of the Church to bid them welcome. These others, 
 the Calvinists, met them and conducted Washington to the house 
 of a Calvinist, Mr. Lispenard, where he and his staff were boun- 
 tifully entertained. But on the same day and in that same city 
 another high officer arrived — General Tryon, the king's governor 
 
 126 
 
of the colony. And by whom was he met and welcomed? By 
 all the king's officers and scores of his loyal subjects, prominent 
 amongst whom were the clergy of the Episcopal Church. Nothing 
 could more clearly mark the difference in political sentiment of 
 these diflferent clergymen and their churches. From that time 
 Washington was about as much of a Presbyterian as an Episco- 
 palian. When afterward he was commander in New York he 
 made his headquarters with William Smith, a prominent Presby- 
 terian. He himself attended, and ordered all his men to attend, 
 the services of his chaplains, who were dissenting clergymen ; and 
 he elsewhere attended the dissenters' service and communed with 
 them. He gave forty thousand dollars in bonds to establish a 
 Presbyterian college in his native state, which took his name in 
 honor of his munificent gift, becoming Washington College." 
 
 Rufus Choate, eminent Jurist, ascribes to Calvinists the civil 
 liberty of the world: "In the reign of Mary, from 1553 to 1558, 
 a thousand learned Englishmen fled from the stake at home to 
 the happier states of continental Protestantism. Of these, great 
 numbers — I know not how many — came to Geneva. I ascribe tc 
 that five years in Geneva an influence which has changed the 
 face of the world. I seem to myself to trace to it, as an influence 
 on the English character, a new theology, new politics, another 
 tone of character, the opening of another era of time and liberty. 
 I seem to myself to trace to it the great civil war in England, 
 the republican constitution framed in the cabin of the Mayflower, 
 the theology of Jonathan Edwards, the battle of Bunker Hill, the 
 Independence of America." 
 
 II. 
 
 Presbjrterianism and Martyrdom. 
 
 In all the ages Presbyterianism has been in the fiery furnace 
 of persecution for loyalty to Christ and for testimony to the truth. 
 "For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to be- 
 lieve in Him, but also to suffer for His sake," was enunciated 
 by Paul as a glorious privilege, accepted by the ancient church, 
 who counted it joy that they were accounted worthy to suffer for 
 
 127 
 
His name," and who "loved not their Hves unto death." In suf- 
 fering martyrdom no one can dispute its claim that the Presby- 
 terian Church enjoys the honor of apostoHc succession. No other 
 historic church has been so continuously in the flames and no other 
 body of Christians has contributed so largely to the number of 
 those "who have come out of great tribulation and washed their 
 robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." If it be 
 true of a church as well as of individuals that "whom the Lord 
 loveth he chasteneth," then the Presbyterian must of all churches 
 be the beloved of the Lord. If the rage of Satan against one body 
 of people indicates his bitter enmity, then the Presbyterian must 
 of all denominations be the object of Satanic malice. So con- 
 stantly has Presbyterianism been called to suffer for the faith 
 that the motto of the Huguenot, "Nee tamen consumabatur" — 
 "Nevertheless, it is not consumed" — has become the insignia blaz- 
 oned not only on its crest, but wrought into its experience through 
 all the ages. 
 
 Historic Proofs. 
 
 In the, early days of Christianity, before the simplicity of its 
 Presbyterian faith had given place to the sacerdotalism of latei 
 centuries, it gave to the world startling exhibitions of martyrdom 
 in men who kissed joyously the chains that bound them to the 
 stake and sang hallelujahs as their souls departed in chariots of 
 flame. The Calvinism of that first century was as unquestioned as 
 that of Paul himself, and it poured its blood more freely than 
 water, giving rise to the proverb: "The blood of the martyrs is 
 the seed of the church." The Apostles themselves led the van 
 of the heroes of faith to the stake, who sealed their testimony 
 with their blood. Historians have vainly sought to estimate their 
 number. John, the last survivor of the Apostles, describes them 
 as "a great multitude which no man could number of all nations 
 and kindreds and peoples and tongues before the throne and before 
 the Lamb clothed with white robes and palms in their 
 hands" . . . ."which came out of great tribulation and have 
 washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the 
 Lamb." 
 
 128 
 
"The Son of God goes forth to war, 
 
 A kingly crown to gain, 
 His blood-red banner streams afar : 
 
 Who follows in His train? 
 Who best can drink His cup of woe, 
 
 Triumphant over pain, 
 Who patient bears His cross below, 
 
 He follows in His train. 
 
 "That martyr first, whose eagle eye 
 
 Could pierce beyond the grave; 
 Who saw His Master in the sky, 
 
 And called on Him to save; 
 Like Him, with pardon on His tongue, 
 
 In midst of mortal pain, 
 He prayed for them that did the wrong: 
 
 Who follows in His train? 
 
 "A noble band, the chosen few, 
 
 On whom the Spirit came, 
 Twelve valiant saints, their hope they knew. 
 
 And mocked the torch of flame ; 
 They met the tyrant's brandished steel. 
 
 The lion's gory mane. 
 They bowed their necks the stroke to feel; 
 
 Who follows in their train? 
 
 "A noble army, men and boys. 
 
 The matron and the maid. 
 Around the throne of God rejoice, 
 
 In robes of light arrayed. 
 They climbed the steep ascent of heaven 
 
 Through peril, toil and pain; 
 O God, to us may grace be given 
 
 To follow in their train.'* 
 
 Waldensian Martyrs 
 
 Next in order of time come the Waldenses. Their history is 
 written in blood. Pope Innocent VIII fulminated against them 
 
 129 
 
his infamous bull — in striking contradiction to his name "Inno- 
 cent" — and invited all Catholics to take- up arms against them, 
 "absolving from all ecclesiastical pains and penalties, general and 
 particular, those who should take up the cross; releasing them 
 from any oaths they might have taken ; legitimizing their title to 
 any property they might have illegally acquired ; and promising 
 remission of sins to such as should kill any heretic." It annulled 
 all contracts in favor of the Waldenses; ordered their domestics 
 to abandom them, forbade any persons to give them any aid 
 whatever, and empowered all persons to take possession of their 
 property. 
 
 While multitudes died, the remnant "kept the faith" till the 
 next great persecution came and with it their new baptism of 
 blood, as Francis I of France, and the Duke of Savoy attempted 
 their extermination in vain. One hundred years later the storm 
 of persecution burst out with still greater fury. Of the massacre 
 that year an eye-witness and chief sufferer writes: **A11 the 
 echoes of the valleys and of the Alps made such piteous response 
 to the lamentable cries of these poor victims, and to the fright- 
 ful shrieks raised by so great a company of martyrs, that you 
 would have said that the rocks could hear and had pity at the 
 cries for mercy and the beatings of the breast, while these mur- 
 derers were utterly unmoved thereat." 
 
 Only the recording angel can count up the number of these 
 ancient Presbyterian people, in whose behalf John Milton invoked 
 the aid of Oliver Cromwell and of heaven in the well-known 
 sonnet : 
 
 "Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints whose bones. 
 Lie scattered on the Alpine Mountains cold, 
 Even them who kept thy truth so pure of old, 
 When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones." 
 
 Huguenots of France. 
 
 Next in the order of the Apostolic Succession of Suffering, the 
 Huguenots bore aloft the Standard of the Faith. Truly has this 
 Church been called "The Church under the Cross." It had two 
 
 130 
 
emblems — 'The Burning Bush," and the *'Anvil," smitten again 
 and again, wearing out many hammers, yet never destroyed, made 
 only the harder for the many strokes upon it. The Protestants 
 bound themselves by. a solemn oath to stand by each other, and so 
 came to be known as Huguenots, a kind of nickname which came 
 to mean "comrades of the oath." Conde was miserably assassi- 
 nated after a battle, and Coligny met a similar fate in the mem- 
 orable massacre of St. Bartholomew, on the 24th day of August, 
 1572 At one time, at a signal from the bell of St. Germain 
 TAuxerrais, seventy-five thousand Protestants, — men, women and 
 children, — were butchered in cold blood in their homes and in the 
 streets of Paris and other cities. The person most responsible for 
 this colossal infamy was an Italian woman, Catherine de Medici, 
 queen regent, and mother of the boy king, Charles IX. She de- 
 liberately decoyed the Protestants to Paris for this purpose, and 
 turned loose upon them her brutal minions. The Seine was 
 crimsoned and the streets of Paris flowed in blood. To com- 
 memorate the event, the Pope ordered medals to be struck, having 
 on one side the Pope's head, with this inscription, "Gregorius XIII, 
 Pont. Max., An. I"; on the other a destroying angel, holding a 
 cross in one hand, while with the other, he slew the Protestants 
 with a sword. On this side were inscribed the words, "Hugono- 
 torum strages" (slaughter of the Huguenots), "1572." Special 
 services of thanksgiving were also held in the churches of Rome. 
 
 Jonathan Edwards, in his "History of Redemption" says : "It is 
 reckoned that about this time, within thirty years, there were 
 martyred in this kingdom (France) for the Protestant religion, 
 39 princes, 148 counts, 234 barons, 147,518 gentlemen, and 760,000 
 of the common people." 
 
 Martyrs of the Dutch Republic. 
 
 Motley, noted Historian, states : "The Reformation had entered 
 the Netherlands by the Walloon gate (that is, through the Cal- 
 vinists). The earliest and most eloquent preachers, the most im- 
 passioned converts, the sublimest martyrs, had lived, preached, 
 fought, suffered and died with the precepts of Calvin in their 
 hearts." 
 
 131 
 
The persecutions they endured make one of the darkest pictures 
 in history, and with them will be associated forever, covered with 
 obloquy and execration, the name of the Duke of Alva. He was 
 sent, in 1567, by his master, Phillip II, King of Spain, a bigoted 
 Roman Catholic, to extirpate heresy in Holland, which country was 
 at that time held in subjection to the Spanish crown. His army 
 numbered ten thousand men, mostly mercenaries, and he was 
 clothed with full powers for this nefarious mission. He estab- 
 lished a tribunal that soon became known as the "Court of Blood," 
 which was to try and condemn the oflFending Protestants. Many 
 cities openly declared against the oppressive measures of Alva, and 
 combined for their common defense. The States-General, as- 
 sembled at Dordrecht, marshaled under the leadership of "William 
 the Silent," Prince of Orange. This wonderful man, who became 
 a strong Calvinist, occupied, for a long time, the most prominent 
 place among the Protestants of his day. 
 
 The object of these pages is not the narration of events, but a 
 summary of martyrs furnished by the Presbyterian faith, and con- 
 sequently only a passing allusion need be given to the martyrs of 
 Bohemia, followers of John Huss, and the sufferers of Hungary — 
 historic churches identified to this day with the Presbyterian and 
 Calvinistic forces of the world. Not so spectacular, not so brilliant 
 with the galaxy of illustrious names, yet none the less heroic was 
 the struggle in these Germanic and Slavic countries which dragged 
 its weary length through the ages, as myriads of martyred saints 
 went from their midst to swell the number, around the throne, of 
 the great white robed throng "with palms in their hands." 
 
 The Covenanters of Scotland. 
 
 From the Continent of Europe the scene of martyrdom shifts 
 to Scotland's heath covered hills, sequestered glens and historic 
 battlefields, where Presbyterianism attained its loftiest heights and 
 fought its most glorious conflicts in the defense of "the faith once 
 delivered to the Saints." The Solemn League and Covenant was 
 the instrument by which Scotland bound itself to be faithful to 
 Christ's crown. In Grey friar's historic churchyard, upon the 
 tomb-stones for tables, the people after listening to a stirring ser- 
 
mon from Alexander Henderson, affixed their names, many of 
 them opening their veins and signing with their own blood, typical 
 of the streams which would later be shed in its defense. It is not 
 our purpose to tell of the awful period that followed, known as 
 the "killing time." During these twenty-eight years eighteen 
 thousand persons were put to death. The sod of Scotland was 
 crimsoned with the blood of its noblest and best. Another Mar- 
 quis of Argyle, son of the former, was beheaded in Edinburgh, 
 before St. Giles Cathedral. Men and women throughout the king- 
 dom were shot, put to the sword and tied to the stakes fastened in 
 the edge of the sea, that a slow tide might torture them before death 
 relieved their sufferings. 
 
 In old Greyfriar's Churchyard, Edinburgh, convenient to the 
 Grassmarket, where many martyrs perished, is the famous "Mar- 
 tyrs Monument." In quaint rhymes the tourist reads with deep 
 emotion the record of heroic men and noble deeds, beginning : 
 
 "Halt, passenger, take heed ! What do you see ? 
 This tomb doth show for what some men did die. 
 Here lies the dust of those who stood 
 'Gainst perjury, resisting unto blood." 
 
 This is concluded with the following inscription : 
 "From May 27th, 1661, that the most noble Marquis of Argyle 
 was beheaded, to the. 17th of February, 1688, that Mr. James Ren- 
 wick suflFered, were, one way or other, murdered or destroyed, for 
 the same cause, about eighteen thousand ; of whom were executed 
 at Edinburgh, about an hundred of noblemen, gentlemen, min- 
 isters, and others; noble martyrs for Jesus Christ. The most of 
 them lie here." 
 
 Modem Persecution. 
 
 Are not these citations sufficient proof that the Presbyterian 
 has been the martyr Church of the ages. It has not only furnished 
 the vast throng of martyrs now in glory, but it still elicits the 
 bitterest hostility from the enemies of God and the truth. Critics 
 and skeptics vie, with each other in hurling their keenest shafts of 
 wit, ridicule and sarcasm at its devoted head. Rationalistic pulpits, 
 
 133 
 
sensational novels, popular magazines, are the vehicles of modern 
 venom. It is the same spirit that prompted martyrdom of the 
 past which now continues the persecution in other forms. No 
 wonder Dr. McFetridge testifies : "For the courageous morality of 
 the Calvinists one has only to look at the doings of the Inquisition 
 in the Low Countries and at the martyrdoms of Cambray and the 
 fires of Smithfield. Who were the martyrs but Calvinists ? There 
 is no other system of religion in the world which has such a 
 glorious array of martyrs to the faith. Almost every man and 
 woman who walked to the flames rather than deny the faith or 
 leave a stain on conscience was the devout follower not only, and 
 first of all, of the Son of God, but also of that minister of God 
 who made Geneva the light of Europe." It is the glory of Presby- 
 terianism that God has accounted it worthy to bear testimony for 
 Christ during the ages, and that it still bears the brunt of the 
 attack. 
 
 "Faith of our fathers living still, 
 
 In spite of dungeons, fire and sword, 
 
 Oh, how our hearts beat high with joy, 
 When-e*er we hear that glorious word. 
 
 Faith of our fathers, Holy Faith, 
 We, will be true to thee till death." 
 
 III. 
 
 Presbyterianism and Moral Character. 
 
 If "Wisdom is justified of her children," Presbyterianism can 
 furnish the evidence of its divine wisdom in the contribution it has 
 made to the moral character of the world. This is the grandest of 
 all its products, its noblest adornment. Scholars and historians 
 testify alike to the influence of Calvinism in the grandeur of moral 
 character produced, whether considered in the individual or 
 national life of its devotees. Quotations establishing this conten- 
 tion must be limited to a few selections largely confined to those 
 who are in no way attached to this system and not even friendly 
 to it. 
 
 134 
 
Individual. 
 
 James Anthony Froude, Professor of History at Oxford, bril- 
 liant essayist, enters the list of its eulogists, not from partiality 
 but as an honest judge of its merits : 
 
 "I am going to ask you to consider, if Calvinism be, as we are 
 told, fatal to morality, how it came to pass that the first symptom 
 of its operation, wherever it established itself, was to obliterate 
 the distinction between sins and crimes, and to make the moral 
 law the rule of life for state as well as persons ? I shall ask you 
 again, why, if it be a creed of intellectual servitude, it was able to 
 inspire and maintain the gravest efforts ever made to break the 
 yoke of unjust authority? When all else has failed ; when patriot- 
 ism has covered its face, and human courage has broken down; 
 when intellect has yielded, as Gibbon says, *with a smile or a sigh', 
 content to philosophize in the closet or abroad worship with the 
 vulgar ; when emotion, and sentiment, and tender imaginative piety 
 have become the handmaids of superstition, and have dreamt 
 themselves into forgetfulness that there is any difference between 
 lies and truth, the slavish form of belief called Calvinism, in one 
 or other of its many forms, has borne ever an inflexible front to 
 illusion and mendacity, and has preferred rather to be ground to 
 powder like flint than to bend before violence or melt under 
 enervating temptation. 
 
 "The Calvinists abhorred, as no body of men ever more 
 abhorred, all conscious mendacity, all impurity, all moral wrong of 
 every kind so far as they could recognize it. Whatever exists at 
 this moment in England and Scotland of conscientious fear of 
 doing evil is the remnant of the convictions which were branded 
 by the Calvinists into the people's hearts." 
 
 As illustrating the type of character produced by Calvinism, 
 Froude names William the Silent, Luther, Knox, Andrew Melville, 
 the Regent Murray, Coligny, Cromwell, Milton and Bunyan. 
 "These were men," he says, "possessed of all the qualities which 
 give nobility and grandeur to human nature — men whose life was 
 as upright as their intellect was commanding and their public aims 
 untainted with selfishness; unalterably just where duty required 
 
 135 
 
them to be stern, but with the tenderness of a woman in their 
 hearts; frank, true, cheerful, humorous, as unlike sour fanatics 
 as it is possible to imagine any one, and able in some way to sound 
 the keynote to which every brave and faithful heart in Europe 
 instinctively vibrated." 
 
 To this list of illustrious men might be added a catalogue of 
 the greatest names of America such as Andrew Jackson, Abraham 
 Lincoln, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, Theodore Roose- 
 velt, Woodrow Wilson, Stonewall Jackson, James Henley Thorn- 
 well, etc. 
 
 Henry Ward Beecher was never accused of orthodoxy accord- 
 ing to the Calvinistic standard, yet its most ardent advocate could 
 scarcely pronounce more eloquent panegyric than this illustrious 
 preacher uttered in his Plymouth pulpit : 
 
 "There is no system which equals Calvinism in intensifying, to 
 the last degree, ideas of moral excellence and purity of character. 
 There never was a system since the world stood which puts upon 
 man such motives of holiness, or which builds batteries which 
 sweep the whole ground of sin with such horrible artillery. Men 
 may talk as much as they please against the Calvinists and Puritans 
 and Presbyterians, but you will find that when they went to make 
 an investment they have no objection to Calvinism or Puritanism 
 or Presbyterianism. They know that where these systems prevail, 
 where the doctrine of men's obligation to God and man is taught 
 and practiced, there their capital may safely be invested. They 
 tell us that Calvinism plies men with hammer and with chisel. It 
 does; and the result is monumental marble. Other systems leave 
 men soft and dirty; Calvinism makes them of white marble, to 
 endure forever.*' 
 
 Wilson's "Theology of Modern Literature" asserts: "The 
 world has never known," says an able modern scholar, "a higher 
 type of robust and sturdy manhood, nor a gentler, purer or more 
 lovable womanhood, than have prevailed among those peoples who 
 have imbibed the principles of Calvinistic creed, with its com- 
 mingled elements of granitic strength and stability, and of supreme, 
 because Divine, tenderness and grace." 
 
 136 
 
Nations. 
 
 According to the testimony of Competent and scholarly men, 
 Calvinism not only produced great men of high moral standard, 
 but created equally unrivaled standards in national life. 
 
 James Russel Lowell, diplomat and poet, affirms: "If the 
 Calvinistic churches are to be judged by the results of their 
 teaching upon character and conduct, as seen in Scotland and New 
 England, then these churches are entitled to the highest praise. 
 For the superiority is not solely in morality and intelligence, but 
 
 in the prevalent sense of duty in high ideals and inflexible prin- 
 ciples, and in short, in the consciousness of the spiritual world that 
 is an 'eternal now' with believers. After due allowance made for 
 time-servers and hypocrites, I think there are among the Calvinists 
 more godly men, each living *As ever in his great Taskmaster's 
 eye,' than in any other branch of the Christian Church." 
 
 This is confirmed by Thomas Carlyle, universally recognized 
 for his genius and his rugged honesty: "Calvinism had produced 
 in all countries in which it really dominated a definite type of 
 character and conception of morals which was the noblest that had 
 yet appeared in the world." 
 
 Samuel Smiles, noted essayist, emphasizes the fact that Calvin- 
 ism bears the same noble purity regardless of nationality : "What 
 the Puritan was in England," he says, "and the Covenanter in 
 Scotland, that the Huguenot was in France; and that the system 
 of Calvin should have developed precisely the same kind of men 
 in these three several countries afiFords a remarkable illustration 
 of the power of religious training in the formation of character." 
 
 With pardonable pride Calvinism points to one illustration of 
 its blessed results — par excellence — and universally admitted. It 
 has had absolute control of the moral and religious life of but one 
 country. Scotland owes its national character alone to Presby- 
 terianism. For integrity, for scholarship, for high moral standards, 
 for conscientious devotion to duty, for undaunted heroism, for 
 deep spirituality, no country of the globe would be so presumptuous 
 as to claim to stand on the same plane with Scotland. 
 
 137 
 
Conclusive Summary of Achievement. 
 
 In the Supreme Court of Kentucky, while adjudicating a case, 
 involving the legal rights and status of the Presbyterian Church, 
 Judge Henry S. Baker in rendering a decision took occasion to 
 pay a splendid tribute to the work and worth of Presbyterianism, 
 which is hereby reproduced as a comprehensive summary of its 
 achievements recorded on the pages of History throughout the 
 
 ages: 
 
 "The history of the Presbyterian Church is the history of a 
 very large part of what we know and enjoy of civil and religious 
 liberty. The teachings of her faith are such as have always 
 attracted to her the most lofty minds and the noblest spirits. In 
 following her path through the pages of history, whether her 
 votaries be called Lutherans (Reformed) as in Germany, Hugue- 
 nots, as in France, Covenanters, as in Scotland, or Puritans, as in 
 England, — they will always be found to be among the bravest and 
 the best. 
 
 "As a religious organization, it had no compromise along the 
 lines of conscience to make with power ; and it could be deflected 
 from the path of rectitude neither by the frown of authority nor 
 the blandishments of corruption. 
 
 "With the same indomitable courage, it confronted the haughty 
 princes of the House of Tudor and the crowned weaklings of the 
 House of Stuart; with the same words of scornful condemnation 
 it rebuked the sins of Messalina on the throne and the wanton in 
 the street. 
 
 "Her path has led her oftner into exile than into favor with 
 the great; oftener to the dungeon and the stake than to the 
 pleasure of kings' houses or the friendship of courtiers. 
 
 "But under her searching gaze shackles have fallen from the 
 human mind, and the divine right of kings has shrunk to the mean 
 thing it now appears. 
 
 "Wherever a battle was to be fought for human liberty, when- 
 ever a forlorn hope was to be led, or a mind braved for conscience 
 sake, whenever the blood of a martyr was needed as testimony to 
 truth, her answer was always that of the prophet of old : 'Here 
 am I ; send me'." 
 
 138 
 
"And of Zion it shall be said, this and that man was born in 
 her, and the Highest himself shall establish her. The Lord shall 
 count when He writeth up the people, that this man was born 
 there." 
 
 Rival Philosophies may enumerate each its distinguished ad- 
 herents, Science may claim its illustrious devotees, schools of 
 divinity may count each its worthy sons, patriotism may exhibit 
 with pride its noblest heroes ; but when Calvinism calls the roll of 
 the ages, they come flocking to its standard, arrayed under its 
 blue banner — that has waved over many lands and in all ages, — 
 the noble army of the Martyrs outnumbering all other faiths com- 
 bined; saints of God, Paul, Augustine, John Calvin, John Knox, 
 Andrew Melville, George Gillespie, John Milton, James Henley 
 Thornwell, Robert J. Breckinridge, Robert L. Dabney, John L. 
 Girardeau, Benj. M. Palmer, Jas. Woodrow, accompanied by a 
 mighty host which no man can number — ^Waldenses, Huguenots, 
 Jansenists, Culdees, Covenanters, Puritans, — Calvinists all, — 
 "Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, 
 obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the 
 violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness 
 were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the 
 armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life 
 again; and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that 
 they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of 
 cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and im- 
 prisonment; they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were 
 tempted, were slain with the sword : they wandered about in 
 sheepskins and goatskins ; being destitute, afflicted, tormented ; (of 
 whom the world was not worthy) : they wandered in deserts, and 
 in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." 
 
 Let the detractors of Calvinism, before being accounted worthy 
 to substitute for it some other system, first match it in worthy 
 deeds and in illustrious heroes of faith. 
 
 Verily, "Wisdom is justified of her children." 
 
 139 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ^te^ftpteriantem anb €ati)olititp. 
 
 The inherent strength of Presbyterianism is the scriptural 
 character of its doctrine and polity. Its crowning glory is the 
 catholicity of its spirit toward evangelical Christendom. It stands 
 firm as Gibraltar on its Biblical base, but is characterized by no 
 bigotry which claims sole prerogatives as "the" Church, to the 
 exclusion of all others. It extends the hand of fellowship to all 
 the followers of Christ regardless of creed or historical affiliation. 
 If smitten on one cheek by the uncharitable club of the sectarian, it 
 turns the other cheek, — though in firm protest, — to the fist of the 
 smiter in the confident trust that love will eventually win in the 
 conflict between truth and intolerance. 
 
 Its Historic Creed. 
 
 In the whole realm of literature there is no more broadminded 
 statement and liberal spirit toward fellow Christians of other 
 faiths than its Chapter on the "Communion of Saints" in which it 
 affirms : "We are bound to maintain an holy fellowship and com- 
 munion in the worship of God, which communion as God offereth 
 opportunity, is to be extended unto all those who in every place 
 call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 Presbyterianism is the only system which officially and 
 unequivocally recognizes as a distinct and unmistakable part of the 
 visible Church, all other denominations, "whatever their name or 
 sign.'* For nearly three centuries the banner of Presbyterianism 
 has been flung to the breezes with its definition of the Church in- 
 scribed which should challenge the admiration of Christendom: 
 "The visible Church before the law, under the law and now under 
 the gospel, is one and the same, and consists of all those who 
 make profession of the true religion, together with their children. 
 This visible unity of the body of Christ, though obscured, is not 
 
 140 
 
destroyed by its division into different denominations of profess- 
 ing Christians; but all of these which maintain the Word and 
 Sacraments in their fundamental integrity are to be recognized as 
 true branches of the Church of Jesus Christ." 
 
 Though possessing the most logical, systematic and scriptural 
 creed — well nigh universally so admitted — it is rather remarkable 
 that it is the one creed which acclaims the fact that it requires 
 no subscription and refuses to bind the individual conscience. On 
 the contrary, it guarantees the right of private judgment, affirming 
 that "God alone is Lord of the conscience and hath left it free 
 from the doctrines and commandments of men." It does require, 
 however, subscription to the Confession on the part of its ministry 
 and officers in their representative character as the official ex- 
 pounders of its faith. But for the individual seeking admission to 
 its fold there is absolutely no test except the scriptural requirement 
 of "repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." It protects each member of its fold in his divine right 
 of determining for himself his beliefs and practices in his private 
 interpretation of Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 
 Its Confession of Faith confirms its scriptural System; and its 
 pulpits expound officially its distinctive principles, but whether the 
 individual accepts immersion or sprinkling as the mode of bap- 
 tism, whether he accepts Calvinism or Arminianism as his personal 
 creed, is his exclusive privilege and sole responsibility. The door 
 of the Presbyterian Church is as wide as the gate of Heaven, and 
 its "Communion of Saints" is as broad as evangelical Christendom. 
 
 The Proofs of Its Catholicity. 
 
 Notwithstanding the foregoing claims of broad-mindedness and 
 notwithstanding these published official statements of its Confes- 
 sion of Faith, yet in many quarters, due to ignorance or prejudice, 
 there have been persistent and unchristian charges of narrowness 
 lodged against this historic and long suffering body of worthy 
 Christian people, who have adorned the faith throughout the 
 ages. Their high standard of Christian character, their unrivaled 
 achievements in benevolences and in missions are their noblest 
 defense ; yet we may be indulged in the recitation of some of the 
 
 141 
 
practical proofs which seemingly are so apparent they might be 
 justly and confidently trusted to carry conviction to the minds of 
 reasonable men. 
 
 I. 
 
 Presbyterian Recognition of Other Faiths. 
 
 Not simply in its Confession of Faith theoretically, but in prac- 
 tical deeds and ways, Presbyterianism acclaims all Christians as 
 brethren. Its scriptural Presbyterate constitutes no barrier to 
 the cordial recognition as brethren those in the communion of the 
 historic episcopate. If Episcopal canons exclude Presbyterians 
 from their pulpit and close the door of their churches against hold- 
 ing Presbyterian services in their houses of worship, the Presby- 
 terian Church does not retaliate, but cordially offers its churches to 
 homeless Episcopal flocks, and unreservedly places its pulpit at 
 their disposal. If immersionists exclude Presbyterians from the 
 church and from their communion table, Presbyterians announce 
 the terms of their communion as broad as Christianity, and invite 
 all disciples of Christ "to the table of the Lord." If others re- 
 ordain Presbyterian ministers and rebaptize their members, Pres- 
 bjrterianism retaliates by extending the hand of fellowship, whether 
 others take it or reject it. The Presbyterian Church never re- 
 ordains any ministers coming from any evangelical church, and 
 never rebaptizes those who have been baptized by other modes. 
 It receives members from other denominations by certificate from 
 any as freely and as cordially as from other Presbyterian Churches. 
 It cheerfully grants letters of dismission to any other "Christian 
 Communion" as readily as to those of its own faith and order. 
 This is no mere sentirnent, for it not only preaches but practices 
 the principles of fraternity in its effort to realize the communion of 
 Saints. 
 
 11. 
 
 Presbjrterian Cooperation. 
 
 Presb5^erianism undeniably leads the hosts of God's people in 
 its financial and moral support of all great undenominational enter- 
 
 142 
 
prises and charitable institutions. The "Ben Adham" whose 
 "name leads all the rest" is usually Presbyterian. It is the 
 denomination that "sows beside all waters" and whose hand of 
 sympathy and generosity is extended to every worthy cause. The 
 familiar and oft quoted statement of Dwight L. Moody has never 
 been challenged, that in his great undenominational enterprises he 
 always counted on Presbyterians for 80 per cent, of the total cost. 
 No wonder some one has said : "They are the financial backbone 
 of all American benevolence. They make possible the success of 
 every great 'drive.* The nation knows it and is grateful." 
 
 Dr. Irenaeus Prime, Corresponding Secretary of the American 
 Bible Society, — the outstanding undenominational institution which 
 has in good works and far-reaching influence led all religious 
 non-sectarian forces of the world, — made a careful examination of 
 the gifts of the New York Bible Auxiliary, and found that the 
 contributions of the Presbyterian Church during a period of fifty 
 years were five times greater than the combined gifts of all other 
 denominations. At the first Pan-Presbyterian Council he was 
 quoted as saying : "An analysis of the sources of contributions to 
 the Bible cause in any other city or part of the country, out of 
 New England, will show that the Presbyterian Church contributes 
 to this great national society in about the same proportion." 
 
 Dr. Hays in his book on "Presbyterianism" states on the au- 
 thority of an executive officer of one of the great non-sectarian 
 enterprises, that if the support of Presbyterians were withdrawn 
 from the American Bible Society, the American Tract Society 
 and the American Sunday School Union, it would force them out 
 of business. No body of Christian people has established and is 
 maintaining a larger number of hospitals, orphanages and philan- 
 thropic institutions, which are open to the public regardless of 
 race or creed. Dr. Hays discovered in one of these great Pres- 
 byterian hospitals that seventy-four inmates out of every hundred 
 come from Methodists, Lutherans and Romanists, while only eight 
 were Presbyterians. Jews, Unitarians and Friends largely ac- 
 counted for the rest. The philanthropies of the Presbyterian 
 Church, representing an investment annually of millions of dol- 
 lars, free to all classes and creeds, for the relief of suffering 
 
 143 
 
humanity, are her efforts to re-incarnate the helping hand and 
 loving heart of Christ as vital forces in the life of the world 
 today. Christ, who lived among men two thousand years ago, who 
 still lives for men on the throne of the universe, is also living as 
 well in men, visibly revealed in the life of His Church. 
 
 III. 
 
 Presbjrterian Preeminence in Federation. 
 
 The sectarian exclusiveness which has been the reproach of 
 Christendom in the past is gradually but surely yielding to the 
 impact of fraternity and Christian charity. The visible manifes- 
 tation of the new spirit is expressing itself in the closer relation 
 and growing federation of the churches for mutual sympathy and 
 friendly cooperation. The Federal Council of Churches, the 
 Students' Volunteer Movement, the Home Mission Council, the 
 Conference for Foreign Missions, are some of the great inter- 
 denominational organizations of the day which give expression 
 to the principle of the spiritual unity of Christendom. Some of 
 the larger denominations have steadfastly declined to enter or take 
 any part in these great federations of the Christian forces and of 
 the visible unity of the Church. The Presbyterian Church has 
 without exception not only extended her hand and heart to each 
 and all of them, but has taken a leading part in their formation 
 and in their operation. Such is her preeminent part and active 
 influence that withdrawal from either would seriously embarrass 
 the organization. With confidence it may be affirmed and the 
 statement will scarcely be challenged, that no denomination in ex- 
 istence sustains such vital rela*:ion to all these federations as the 
 Presbyterian Church. It is the supreme evidence of the liberal 
 and catholic spirit of the System of Presbyterianism, not only 
 throughout Christendom but in all the affairs of men. 
 
 IV. 
 
 The Community of Faith and Life. 
 
 In all its fundamental beliefs and essential features it has a 
 community of faith and life shared by evangelical Christendom, 
 
 144 
 
which is the surest witness of its own catholicity. In its entire 
 system it has nothing exclusively distinctive, but every funda- 
 mental principle is endorsed and shared by one or more historic 
 Faiths. In the great Reformation, Martin Luther, representative 
 of one of the largest Protestant bodies of the world, stood with 
 John Calvin for the vital evangelical principle of justification by 
 faith. In the English revival as a protest against dead formality, 
 Calvinistic Whitefield and John Wesley, founder of the Methodist 
 Church, stood side by side for the evangelistic spirit of Christi- 
 anity. In its theology, Presbyterianism shares its Calvinistic sys- 
 tem with the great Baptist forces of the world. In the spontaneity 
 of its religious experiences under the immediate and direct influ- 
 ences of the Holy Spirit, it joins with William Penn and George 
 Fox of the Quaker faith. In its scriptural mode of baptism and 
 its practice of infant baptism, based upon the promises of the 
 covenant-keeqing God, Presbyterianism is reinforced by the over- 
 whelming majority of the hosts of the Israel of God throughout 
 Christendom. Presbyterianism teaches and practices its theology 
 of Christian unity. It extends the right hand of fellowship to all 
 believers of all Faiths, saying with Paul : "So we, being many, are 
 one body in Christ and every one members one of another." Em- 
 bodied in modern terms and figures of speech is the same thought : 
 "Many as the waves, one as the sea"; many as the stars, one as 
 the firmament ; many folds, but one flock ; many organizations, but 
 one Church. Presbyterianism, the system that more than all others 
 embodies the fundamentals common to all, is the connecting link 
 that allies itself to each and insists on the Communion of Saints 
 on the principle of a community of faith and life, maintaining: 
 "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one 
 hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one 
 God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and 
 in you all." 
 
 This unique position as the only Church which in her creed 
 teaches the unity of the Church and advocates that the Communion 
 of Saints be extended to all those who in every place call on the 
 name of the Lord Jesus Christ, surely entitles her to the eulogy 
 so eloquently pronounced by Dr. Charles A. Briggs in "American 
 
 145 
 
Presbyterianism" : "The Presbyterian Church has the true apos- 
 tolic succession in striving after the apostolic faith in its purity, 
 integrity and fulness. Presbyterianism is a real Christianity which 
 rejects everything which is not a product of the Christianity of 
 Jesus Christ. It appropriates everything in every age of the 
 Church which bears the impress of Christ and which represents 
 the power of His Spirit. Presbyterianism belongs to the modern 
 age of the world, but it is not a departure from the Christianity 
 from the times of the apostles until the present day. It com- 
 prehends the genuine Christianity of all ages. It conserves all 
 the achievements of the Christian Church. It leads the van of 
 the advancing host of God. It makes steady progress towards 
 the realization of the ideal of Christianity in the golden age of 
 the Messiah." 
 
 V. 
 
 Conforming to the Presbyterian Type. 
 
 After the battle of Salamis, the Greek Generals, thirty in num- 
 ber, met to award the mead of praise to that one of their number 
 justly entitled to the honor by reason of his part and distinguished 
 services in winning the brilliant victory. Each was instructed to 
 vote for his first and second choice. In counting the ballots it was 
 discovered that they had received one vote each for first place, 
 while Themistocles received thirty votes for the second choice. 
 It was the most overwhelming testimony that he was entitled to 
 the honor of having rendered the most distinguished services in 
 achieving the victory. If in like manner the denominations were 
 given the opportunity of selecting one as the church upon which 
 all could unite, being allowed to vote for first and second choice, 
 it is almost a moral certainty that each would vote for itself as 
 first choice and the overwhelming majority would cast their ballot 
 for the Presbyterian as second choice. The truth of this conten- 
 tion can be verified by making the experiment of testing a very 
 large number of persons in all denominations and tabulating the 
 result. 
 
 Still more conclusive would be the test of a study of the modern 
 movements and gradual developments now taking place under our 
 
 146 
 
very eyes in the ecclesiastical world. The tendency in modern 
 church life is the conformity of others to the Presbyterian type. 
 The Congregational, which was once ruled by the popular vote 
 of the local church, independent of all others, now has its "Asso- 
 ciations" or "Councils," which are assuming more and more 
 ecclesiastical authority, and whose decisions have come to possess 
 such sufficient moral force and to make them differ very little 
 from our Presbyteries. The Methodist Church, as late as the 
 Civil War, did not admit the laity, and was ruled chiefly by 
 Bishops; but it has now admitted laymen in its conferences, and 
 is practically Presbyterian in government. The Lutheran is as 
 Presbyterian in form of Government as the Presbyterian itself in 
 ever)rthing except in name. The Baptists, closer akin to Presby- 
 terians in their theology than any others, who once were the 
 staunchest advocates of Independency, are now drifting nearer to 
 Presbyterianism in their form of government. In theory their 
 churches have been quite independent in the past, and many are 
 still as independent as ever, yet their "Associations," while claim- 
 ing no sanction than moral suasion, do not hesitate to exclude 
 from their "fellowship" such churches as are recalcitrant to 
 advice, which gives these voluntary Associations practically all the 
 influence and the authority of Presbyteries. Is it any wonder, in 
 view of these facts, that the author of the sixth volume of "Ameri- 
 can Church History" affirms that "As a whole the Protestantism 
 of America has become Presbyterian in substance, though not in 
 name." 
 
 VI. 
 
 Catholicity in the Extent of Empire. 
 
 The catholic and Ecumenical character of Presbyterianism is 
 displayed in the growth of its membership and the vastness of its 
 constituency. At the Eleventh General Council of the Pan-Pres- 
 byterian Alliance in Pittsburgh, Pa., the following statistics were 
 officially submitted with the statement that they were "the most 
 reliable ever published of the Presbyterian and Reformed 
 Churches of the World." 
 
 147 
 
TABLE. 
 
 Churches 
 
 Congre- 
 gations 
 
 Min- 
 isters 
 
 Elders 
 
 Commu- 
 nicants 
 
 Pupils 
 in S. S. 
 
 S. S. 
 Teachers 
 
 European Conti- 
 nent 
 
 6,549 
 
 5,850 
 
 2,895 
 
 1,516 
 
 21,607 
 
 189 
 
 160 
 
 854 
 
 5,872 
 
 5,596 
 
 1,395 
 
 694 
 
 17,908 
 
 150 
 
 97 
 
 826 
 
 23,590 
 
 37,029 
 
 1,410 
 
 4,071 
 
 83,395 
 
 492 
 
 650 
 
 4,738 
 
 2,010,999 
 
 1,654,219 
 
 304,326 
 
 454,453 
 
 3,287,494 
 
 27,812 
 
 18,943 
 
 121,565 
 
 579,844 
 
 850,155 
 
 88,116 
 
 56,146 
 
 2,795,787 
 
 15,176 
 
 17,506 
 
 111,967 
 
 4,847 
 
 United Kingdom . 
 Asia 
 
 78,996 
 3,887 
 
 Africa 
 
 2,341 
 
 North America... 
 South America . . . 
 
 West Indies 
 
 Australasia 
 
 833 
 
 1,044 
 11,909 
 
 Totals 
 
 39,620 
 
 33,538 
 
 155,375 
 
 7,879,811 
 
 4,414,797 
 
 362,718 
 
 This table does not include Germany, Switzerland and some 
 other countries on the Continent of Europe, owing to the impos- 
 sibility of separating communicants from constituency. A con- 
 servative estimate for these would increase the number to over 
 8,000,000. The total constituency of Presbyterianism throughout 
 the world is generally estimated at 40,000,000. 
 
 Presbyterian Empire, World-Wide. 
 
 Dr. Egbert W. Smith, Secretary of Foreign Missions, Presby- 
 terian Church, U. S., rendered splendid service to the cause, by 
 publishing many of the best testimonies to the worth and achieve- 
 ments of Presbyterianism in his valuable treatise entitled "The 
 Creed of Presbyterians." No more appropriate conclusion can 
 enforce the contention of this chapter on Presbyterian Catholicity 
 than an apt quotation from this book as to the numerical strength 
 of Presbyterianism and wide extent of its empire : 
 
 *'It is inspiring to remind ourselves that ours is a historic 
 Church. Our present millions are the children and successors of 
 millions upon millions, seated now in the galleries of History's 
 vast coliseum, tier above tier, generation upon generation, of those 
 who through ages of toil, trial and triumph, 'subdued kingdoms, 
 wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of 
 lions, quenched the violence of fire, out of weakness were made 
 strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the 
 aliens.* 
 
 148 
 
"More catholic and imposing even than the Presbyterian num- 
 bers is the world-wide range of the Presbyterian empire. While 
 the adherents of other Protestant communions are more or less 
 massed in single countries, — the Lutherans in Germany, the 
 Episcopalians in England, the Methodists and Baptists in the 
 United States, — the line of the Presbyterian Church is gone out 
 through all the earth. She thrives this hour in more continents, 
 among a greater number of nations and peoples and languages, 
 than any other evangelical church in the world. As her witnesses 
 in Continental Europe, she has the historic Presbyterian Reformed 
 Churches of Austria, Bohemia, Galicia, Moravia, of Hungary, 
 Belgium, France, Germany, of Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, of 
 Russia and Switzerland and Spain. She is rooted and fruitful in 
 Africa, in Australia, in Asia, in Great Britain, in North America, 
 in South America, in the West Indies, in New Zealand, in 
 Malanesia, — ^the people of this faith and order gird the earth. 
 Presbyter ianism possesses a power of adaptation unparalleled by 
 any other system. It holds in steadfast array a great part of the 
 intelligence and moral vigor of the Christian world, and from 
 its abounding spiritual life are going forth the mighty forces of 
 Christian missions into all the heathen world." 
 
 149 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 S^vtihpttximiim anb Misiiionsi 
 
 PRESUMPTION IN ITS FAVOR. 
 
 The essential principles of Calvinism would lead us beforehand 
 to infer that it would furnish the strongest incentive to successful 
 missionary effort. Nothing is more reassuring and better calcu- 
 lated to arouse the supremest effort for the advancement of the 
 kingdom than a profound belief in the divine sovereignty of God, 
 who "sits on no precarious throne" and sends His servants on no 
 uncertain mission. In human governments, that army will struggle 
 most valiantly which has implicit confidence in the competency of 
 the government to direct its affairs, and its ability to execute its 
 purposes. Calvinism enthrones God in His sovereign Omnipo- 
 tence, directing all the events of the universe according to a 
 divinely appointed plan, arranged in the councils of eternity. 
 
 Is it any wonder that His subjects, persuaded that they are 
 executing the designs of God himself, toil in the strength, born of 
 the conviction that though their immediate designs may fail, and 
 they themselves perish, yet God himself lives and reigns, and will 
 in His own sovereign wisdom and appointed time bring to pass 
 His purposes of grace? Missions may challenge their faith, and 
 make unrelenting draughts on their resources and activities, but 
 what matters it, if it be the sovereign purpose of God? 
 
 Distrust of self would ordinarily weaken and paralyze all effort, 
 were it not for the fact that such distrust flings the soul back upon 
 God in its weakness, and by an abiding faith in Him, obtains a 
 strength that is invincible. "When I am weak, then am I strong," 
 is the paradox of Calvinism. Will the impulsive, spasmodic zeal 
 springing from self-indulgence and reliance on human means, 
 stand the strain of long-continued effort so well as one who makes 
 God his confidence, and "endures as seeing Him who is invisible" ? 
 The firm conviction, that we rest not on human but divine 
 efficiency, gives stability to our vacillating efforts, and makes us 
 
 150 
 
strong by "the mighty hands of the God of Jacob." These "shall 
 mount up on wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and 
 they shall walk and not faint," — in the Hurculean task of bringing 
 the world to Christ. 
 
 Not simply viewed from the standpoint of belief in the divine 
 sovereignty, does Calvinism thus evince its superiority as a potent 
 influence in world-wide evangelization, but it is equally evident 
 from the human standpoint of the perseverance of the saints. If 
 the stereotyped objection to Calvinism were true, that it is cold, 
 calculating, lacking in fervor, it would be more than counterbal- 
 anced by the steady, persistent, unflinching, perseverance of an un- 
 daunted faith, which holds on the even tenor of its way in the 
 face of opposition, despite difficulties and discouragements, till it 
 wrings victory out of defeat. The fevered brain may produce 
 momentarily an unnatural strength, born of delirium ; but will it 
 endure the trials and press on in the race with the steady gait of 
 one in the full possession of robust health. 
 
 Calvinism finds its analogy, not in the "whirlwind" of impet- 
 uosity, not in the "fire" of religious fanaticism, nor in the "earth- 
 quake" of spasmodic upheavals, but in the "still small voice" that 
 speaks conviction in the silent depths of the soul. If, in the sphere 
 of missions, failure and disaster overtake his best efforts, and suc- 
 cess be long delayed, the Calvinist undeterred sees in the analogy 
 of nature how slowly and silently she elaborates the best and 
 grandest results of her mighty plan by gradual processes and takes 
 comfort in the thought, that in the Kingdom of Grace, God works 
 by the same methods and executes His largest purposes by the 
 steady, irresistible perseverance of the saints, remembering that 
 though "the Kingdom of God cometh not with observation," it 
 comes none the less surely. 
 
 I. 
 
 Results, the Practical Test. 
 
 Tested by practical results, will an appeal to the history of 
 missions justify this contention, that the principles of Calvinism 
 pre-eminently qualify its adherents for leadership in evangelizing 
 the world? 
 
 151 
 
The Early Days of Christianity. 
 
 In its theological aspect, Calvinism, existing ages before Calvin, 
 had its influence in the early days of Christianity on the life and 
 activity of the church. In character it made men conspicuous in 
 their differentiation from other classes. In zeal and activity, it 
 enlisted the rank and file of the church in a religious enthusiasm, 
 which went from house to house, and carried the Gospel "to the 
 uttermost part of the earth." 
 
 The Apostle Paul is the classical illustration of the spirit of the 
 ancient church. Is it a mere coincidence that Paul, recognized as 
 the profoundest exponent of Calvinism, is at the same time re- 
 garded next to the Master himself, as the type and model of all 
 missionary effort. Opponents of Calvinism have not hesitated to 
 charge Paul with the responsibility of giving the Calvinistic cast 
 to the theological thought of the church. Yet this same Paul is 
 always exalted as the greatest and grandest of all missionaries. 
 
 The Calvinism of the first century was as unquestionable as 
 that of Paul himself, who gave cast to the thinking of the first 
 century. Sacred history, ere closing, itself gives significant 
 glimpses of the missionary spirit of the church while under the 
 dominating influence of Calvinism. That was an exquisite touch 
 which records in the language of the church's enemies, the estimate 
 of apostolic success, complaining: "These that have turned the 
 world upside down have come hither also.*' It was not an ardent 
 admirer of Paul who testified to his credit, "That not alone at 
 Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded 
 and turned away much people from idolatry." Paul himself gives 
 a suggestive hint of the missionary propaganda of the age by 
 asserting, that they had preached the Gospel "to every creature 
 which is under heaven." (Col. 1 :23..) 
 
 The remarkable characteristic of the evangelism of ancient 
 Christianity was its propaganda in the face of persecution, and 
 even at the cost of martyrdom. The Calvinism which made heroes 
 and martyrs of men gave also through them such an exhibition of 
 missionary zeal and successful propagation of the Gospel in those 
 
 152 
 
early days of Christianity as has never since been paralleled in 
 the history of the world. 
 
 John Calvin, the Father of Modem Missions. 
 
 In the Christian Retrospect and Register, Robert Baird, upon the 
 authority of the "Historie Universelle," gives the following ac- 
 count of the first mission undertaken by Protestantism : 
 
 "To Calvin, the Reformer of Geneva, belongs the credit of 
 having first attempted, in the Protestant churches, to excite interest 
 in behalf of a heathen nation. An expedition was fitted out in 
 the year 1555 by Villegagnon, a Knight of Malta, under the 
 patronage of Henry II of France, with the view of establishing a 
 French colony in the New World. The approbation of the mon- 
 arch was secured through the medium of the excellent Admiral 
 De Coligny, whose favor Villegagnon propitiated by the secret 
 understanding that the projected colony should protect the Re- 
 formed religion. Accordingly, Calvin was applied to, in order to 
 obtain ministers to embark with the expedition. 
 
 "After consultation with the other pastors of Geneva, he sent 
 two — Guillaume Chartier and Pierre Richier, — ^who were after- 
 wards joined by several others. Their object was, at onoe, to 
 labor among the colonists and to evangelize the heathen aborigines. 
 The expedition reached Fort Coligny, as it was named, on the 
 Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, in March, 1556. On their arrival, the 
 Genevan ministers proceeded to constitute a church, according to 
 the forms and rites of the Reformed churches, and celebrated the 
 Lord's Supper. But Villegagnon soon betrayed his true character 
 and disposition, and after cruelly maltreating the missionaries, 
 forced them to reembark and return to France." 
 
 One can scarcely avoid speculation as to what "might have 
 been," if the unfortunate mission had not thus been prematurely 
 wrecked. As Calvin's name is associated with Augustine, the 
 great theologian, might it not also have been linked with Augustine 
 the missionary in the conversion of a continent? If the seeds of 
 Protestant Christianity planted by him in South America had 
 germinated, who can say if the glory of that misguided continent 
 might not have shown with all the lustre of Protestant North 
 
 153 
 
America ? But, alas ! his missionary venture served no useful pur- 
 pose, except to exhibit his Christian spirit and benevolent attitude 
 toward world-wide evangelization in obedience to the great Com- 
 mission. 
 
 Just as a premature blossom in the treacherous Indian summer, 
 though nipped by the early frosts of winter, is nevertheless a 
 prophecy of the coming spring; so Calvin's ill-timed evangelism 
 was but the guarantee of the evangelistic spirit of Calvinism, when 
 the springtime of favorable seasons should furnish opportunity to 
 flower out in the glorious harvest of the world's conversion. 
 
 In the providence of God, his missionary zeal was confined to the 
 work of laying foundations in practical home mission work, while 
 foreign missions was rather the future outcome of his spirit and 
 principles. Though the foundation of an edifice may not be as 
 ornate and attractive as the superstructure, 3^et it must be even 
 more substantial by reason of its supreme importance. The glory 
 of Calvin in the sphere of missions is the glory of laying founda- 
 tions ; and he must also share the glory of the magnificent super- 
 structure, supported by so substantial a basis. If some twentieth 
 century Apostle Paul should convert South America +o Protes- 
 tantism, and place a new continent in the galaxy of evangelical 
 Christianit}', v/ould that be more glorious than the transcendent 
 work of Calvin, whose well-nigh inspired genius laid the founda- 
 tions of North America's future greatness, and made it such a 
 potent factor in the evangelization of the world as to justify the 
 rallying cry, "As goes America, so goes the world"? 
 
 II. 
 
 Calvinism Inhierently and Intensely Missionary. 
 
 In its primitive purity and reaction from Catholicism as the 
 result of the Reformation, judged by its flaming zeal and in the 
 number of churches which is established, Calvanism demonstrat- 
 ed itself as the most powerful evangelistic force since the Apost- 
 olic age. With amazing rapidity it overspread Europe, muster- 
 ing to its support countless thousands in a living and aggressive 
 Christianity. In twenty-five years after Calvin began his cam- 
 
 154 
 
paign there were two thousand places of Calvinistic worship 
 with a half million of worshippers in France alone. Before his 
 death the Calvinists numbered one-fourth of the entire French 
 population. 
 
 "The Lutheran Reformation," says Dyer in his History of 
 Modern Europe, "traveled but little out of Germany and the 
 neighboring Scandinavian kingdoms; while Calvinism obtained 
 a European character, and was adopted in all the countries that 
 adopted a reformation from without, as France, as the Nether- 
 lands, Scotland, even England ; for the early English Reformation 
 under Edward VI was Calvinistic, and Calvin was incontestably 
 the father of our Puritans and dissenters. Thus, under his rule, 
 Geneva may be said to have become the capital of European 
 Reform." 
 
 In his History of Reformation, D*Aubigne pays a tribute to its 
 propagating power, saying: "The reformation of Calvin was 
 addressed particularly to the people, among whom it raised up 
 martyrs until the time came when it was to send forth the spirit- 
 ual conquerors of the world. For three centuries it has been pro- 
 ducing in the social condition of the nations that have received it, 
 transformations unknown to former times. And still at this 
 very day, and now perhaps more than ever, it imparts to the 
 men who accept it a spirit of power which makes them chosen 
 instruments fitted to propagate truth, morality, and civilization to 
 the ends of the earth." 
 Calvinism and Modern Revivals. 
 
 Credit must be accorded the Methodist Church as a tremendous 
 evangelistic force, but its impetus was not due to its Arminianism. 
 John Wesley was characterized not only by his saintliness, but 
 by his genius as an organizer. His magnificent system accounts 
 largely for the marvelous success of that noble Church, but it 
 was Calvinistic George Whitefield that imparted to the move- 
 ment its evangelistic spirit, which has not yet spent its force. 
 It was Whitefield who lead Wesley into field preaching and into 
 "revival" methods, and who so dominated the movement that 
 Mant, in his Bampton Lectures for 1812, characterizes Method- 
 ism as an entirely Calvinistic affair, and asserts that in the popu- 
 
 155 
 
lar language of the day Methodists were designated as "another 
 sect of Presbyterians." Without in the slightest detracting from 
 the great honor which the world must ever accord John Wesley, 
 still it must in justice be admitted that George Whitefield was 
 the flaming evangelist of his day and must be acclaimed as the 
 father of modern revivals. 
 
 The World's Greatest Evangelists, Calvinists. 
 
 Arminianism has produced many local revivals arid must be 
 credited with the salvation of millions, but it has never inspired 
 a nation-wide movement. The revival which swept New England 
 and until that time the greatest in the history of the American 
 Colonies resulted from a series of Calvinistic sermons by 
 Jonathan Edwards. The men who have awakened the consciences 
 of men and swept countless multitudes into the Kingdom were 
 Calvinists almost to a man, such as John Knox, Thomas Chalmers, 
 George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, David Brainard, Wilbur 
 Chapman, Tennent, Griffin, Nettleton, Daniel Baker, Moody, 
 Torrey, Spurgeon and W. A. Sunday. 
 
 III. 
 
 The Missionary Spirit of Presb3rterianism. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church not only leads the world in per capita 
 gifts for missions, but its spirit and example have been the in- 
 spiration of Christendom. 
 
 Among the Reformers, who led the way of Protestantism 
 in the first missionary venture, but the Calvinists of Geneva? 
 Who penetrated first the trackless forests of the New World, 
 carrying the gospel to its untamed savages, but Brainerd 
 and Eliot. Who led the missionary movement, which is awaken- 
 ing all Christendom to the task of making Christ known throughout 
 the world? If the roll were called of the Calvinists who have led 
 the advancing hosts of the Church, in its attack on heathenism, 
 it would include well-nigh all the great names of history conspicu- 
 ous for missionary enthusiasm and achievement. Time would 
 fail to enumerate William Cary, Henry Martyn, David Living- 
 stone, Robert MoflFatt, Alexander DufT, Adoniram Judson, Robert 
 
 156 
 
Morrison, John G. Paton, John Leighton Wilson, William H. 
 Sheppard, and a vast host of others who, "through faith subdued 
 kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped 
 the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the 
 edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed 
 valiant in fight." etc. 
 
 According to Dr. Moses D. Hoge, "the first missionary since 
 the Reformation sent forth by any church in its corporate capacity, 
 and ordained to labor in the foreign field, was Alexander DuflF 
 (commissioned by the Presbyterian Church of Scotland), whose 
 name stands as a synonym of whatever is heroic, self-sacrificing 
 and saintly in missionary character and achievement. 
 
 At the meeting of the Alliance of Reformed Churches in 
 Glasglow, Prof. Lindsay informed that august and venerable 
 body, representing the larger part of the Calvinistic forces of 
 the world, that "The Presbyterian churches do more than a fourth 
 of the whole mission work among the heathen that is done by all 
 the Protestant churches together," and mentioning three of the 
 greatest denominations, asserted that, "The Presbyterian Church is 
 doing more in the foreign field than all of them combined." 
 
 At the same meeting of the Alliance, representatives of the 
 Eastern Section of the Ecumenical Methodist Conference ap- 
 peared and made a most cordial and pleasing address, expressing 
 their fraternal good will and appreciation of our principles and 
 work in the following complimentary language : 
 
 "Taking the world over, Presbyterianism in the future must 
 be looked to as one of the greatest and most beneficient forces 
 for the conversion and evangelization of the generations of man- 
 kind on every continent. We do unfeignedly rejoice as we be- 
 hold your goodly array of churches, giving the noblest of their 
 sons, and consecrating their vast resources of learning and wealth 
 to the greatest, the mightiest of all enterprises, the conversion 
 of the world to Christ," and the address closes with the prayer 
 that our "cherished ideal of *a free church in a free state* shall 
 in every nation under heaven be an accomplished fact, and every 
 citizen be taught that the chief end of man is to glorify God and 
 enjoy Him forever." 
 
 157 
 
American Presbyterianism and Missions. 
 
 Intense enthusiasm has not always characterized the Presbyter- 
 ian Church of America during the entire century of its organized 
 missionary effort. The modern spirit of missions was of slow 
 growth among all branches of the Church. Nearly one hundred 
 years ago the famous overture of Dr. John H. Rice, the founder 
 of Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, was presented to the 
 General Assembly of 1831, in which he challenged the Assembly 
 to recognize more emphatically the evangelistic mission of the 
 church. It seems almost incredible to us in this age of missionary 
 zeal that this overture was not immediately adopted by the Assem- 
 bly. Nevertheless it stirred the Church and had the effect of com- 
 mitting it to a distinctive missionary career in the following terms : 
 
 "First, that the Presbyterian Church in the United States is 
 a missionary society, the object of which is to aid in the conver- 
 sion of the world; and that every member of the Church is a 
 member for life of the said society, and bound in the maintenance 
 of his Christian character to do all in his power for the accom- 
 plishment of this object. Second, Ministers of the gospel in con- 
 nection with the Presbyterian Church are most solemnly required 
 to present this subject to the members of their respective congre- 
 gation, using every effort to make them feel their obligation and 
 to induce them to contribute according to their ability." 
 
 Since that overture was proposed the Presbyterian Churches 
 in America have grown from an insignificant host of 135,000 
 communicants to an aggregate strength of 12 denominations and 
 3,000,000 communicants, — ^their representatives preaching the 
 gospel among nearly all the nations of the globe. 
 
 At its organization in 1861 into a separate religious body, the 
 Presbyterian Church, U. S. — popularly known as the Southern 
 Church, — gave the world a heroic spectacle of its faith in God and 
 a sublime exibition of its missionary spirit. Amid the throes 
 of Civil War, the bitterness of sectional feeling and the agony 
 of a disrupted Nation, the first General Assembly of the South- 
 ern Church rose sheer above the awful conflict to the contempla- 
 tion of the Saviour's last command and accepted its missionary 
 responsibility — obedient to the great Commission — in the follow- 
 
 158 
 
ing striking language : "The General Assembly desires distinctly 
 and deliberately to inscribe on our Church's banner as she now 
 unfolds it to the world, in immediate connection with the head- 
 ship of her Lord, His last Command. "Go ye into all the world, 
 and preach the gospel to every creature, regarding this as the 
 great end of her organization." 
 
 The organic life of the Presbyterian Church U. S. began in 1861 
 with 10 Synods, 47 Presbyteries, 700 Ministers, 1,000 Churches 
 and 75,000 Communicants. After the lapse of sixty years it now 
 numbers 2,000 Ministers, 3,500 Churches and 400,000 Communi- 
 cants, and contributed in 1920 to Foreign Missions, $1,153,629; 
 to Home Missions, $1,436,986; and a total to all purposes of 
 $12,124,891. It supports 400 Foreign Missionaries and 3,000 
 native helpers and more than 1,000 Home Missionaries. During 
 1920 its net growth was 55^ per cent. — ^about double that of any 
 other large denomination — and for ten years it has lead all de- 
 nominations in the United States in net gains, aggregating 39 per 
 cent. 
 
 Presbyterianism, Cosmopolitan. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church is the most cosmopolitan of Protest- 
 ant Christendom. Others are largely national. A religious 
 periodical recently carried the following striking statement: 
 "Denominations are not equally scattered over the world. In- 
 vestigations show that three-fourths of all the Baptists of the 
 world live in the United States south of a line run across the 
 country along the northern boundary of Virginia to the Ohio 
 River and extending westward from its mouth to the Pacific. 
 Three-fourths of the Methodists of the world live in the United 
 States. But there are more Presbyterians outside of the United 
 States than there are in its borders. Presbyterians, Reformed 
 and Lutherans — all of whom have the same form of Church gov- 
 ernment,— constitute three-fifths of all the Protestants of the 
 world." 
 
 That was not a vain-glorious boast of the American Presby- 
 terian Church in its report to the Alliance of the Reformed 
 Churches: "The missionary heralds of our Pan-American Pres- 
 
 159 
 
byterian alone, which is but a branch of the catholic Presbyterian 
 Church, are scattered from British Columbia to Yucatan; they 
 are in Central America and in Columbia; Venezuela, British 
 Guiana and Brazil; they are on the African Coast from Liberia 
 to the Ogowe, and in the heart of the great Congo basin; they 
 are strong in Syria and Persia, and side by side in India our 
 separate columns are advancing under one Captain; we are pro- 
 claiming glad tidings in Siam and Laos, in Hainan and the Phil- 
 lipines, in Cuba and Formosa; we have long since 'partitioned 
 China,* not for political spoil, but for her salvation; our united 
 forces are teaching the Hermit Nation that, as no man, so no 
 nation, liveth to itself ; we have proclaimed to the Sunrise King- 
 dom the Sun of Righteousness whose rising shall know no set- 
 ting. Our strategic points are taken, our stations occupied, our 
 watch towers girdle the globe." 
 
 IV. 
 
 Calvinism the Guarantee of Victory. 
 
 Calvinism furnishes the only guarantee of the ultimate triumph 
 of the Gospel in extending the sceptre of Christ, till "The King- 
 doms of this world are become the Kingdom of our Lord and of 
 His Christ." Others may indulge a well-grounded hope based upon 
 an abiding faith; but Calvinism plants itself on "The sure word 
 of prophecy" and maintains that the conversion of the world is 
 one of "the eternal decrees of God," revealed as "Foreordained 
 for His own glory," and must therefore surely "come to pass." It 
 has been prophesied "that at the name of Jesus every knee shall 
 bow . . . and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ 
 is Lord to the glory of God the Father," and it could not be 
 prophesied unless it had been predestinated; for contingent and 
 doubtful events cannot be prophesied.. Prophecy is always and 
 everywhere based on foreordination, and not upon mere fore- 
 knowledge; for prophecy is foreknowledge revealed, which pre- 
 supposes the event, as a fixed and unchangeable decree. 
 
 The Son of God, in the Second Psalm, encouraged himself in 
 the predestined triumph of His Kingdom: "I will declare the 
 
 160 
 
decree, the Lord said unto Me, Thou art My Son, this day have I 
 begotten Thee. Ask of Me and I will give Thee the heathen for 
 Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy 
 possession." Let the heathen rage, and the world in arms com- 
 bine; let the evil powers of the Kingdom of Darkness assault 
 the Citadel of Faith; let all the world join in a universal rebellion 
 against the Lord of Glory; nevertheless the eternal decree shall 
 stand ; for "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh ; the Lord 
 shall have them m derision." The Lord God Omnipotent pro- 
 claims from His eternal throne in the heavens: "Yet have I 
 set my King on My holy hill of Zion," and that king though still 
 uncrowned and at the moment in the weakness of the flesh, even 
 with the cross confronting him, yet could proclaim : "Upon this 
 Rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not pre- 
 vail against it." 
 
 "Waft, waft, ye winds, His story, 
 
 And you, ye waters, roll, 
 Till, like a sea of glory, 
 
 It spreads from pole to pole ; 
 Till o'er our ransomed nature. 
 
 The Lamb for sinners slain. 
 Redeemer, King, Creator, 
 
 In bliss returns to reign!" 
 
 161 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 Presbyterianism — A System- 
 
 1. What is one characteristic of Truth? 
 
 2. What constitutes a System? 
 
 3. What is characteristic of Presbyterianism? 
 
 4. What is its first Distinctive Principle? 
 
 5. Illustrate the variations of this principle? . 
 
 6. What is the Supreme Authority of the Catholic Church? 
 
 7. What is the function and limitation of Reason in Religion? 
 
 8. Name the Second Distinctive Principle in Presbyterianism? 
 
 9. What is the relation of Predestination and Providence? 
 
 10. Illustrate the Relation of Sovereignty and Free-Agency. 
 
 11. Give Scripture quotations including both in the same Text. 
 
 12. Illustrate their connection by the story of Joseph. 
 
 13. In the parable of the Lost (Luke XV) what represents the 
 
 Divine aspect of Salvation? 
 
 14. What represents the Human Side? 
 
 15. Illustrate by Analogy of Architecture. 
 
 16. What is the Third Principle of Presbyterianism? 
 
 17. Name the three Primary Forms of Church Government. 
 
 18. What is the essential element of each? 
 
 19. What is the first element of the Presbyterian Form? 
 
 20. Quote Scripture texts or examples in proof. 
 
 21. Name the second element. 
 
 22. Give Scripture references showing Elders and Bishops 
 
 were the same. 
 
 23. What is the third element? 
 
 24. Give Scriotural proofs. 
 
 25. Name the fourth element? 
 
 26. Quote proofs texts. 
 
 162 
 
27. What is the fifth element? 
 
 28. Establish it by Scripture references. 
 
 29. What is the last Distinctive Principle of Presbyterianism ? 
 
 30. Show that Church and State function in separate spheres. 
 
 31. Why are you a Presbyterian ? 
 
 163 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Presbyterianism in History. 
 
 1. What may be said of its Antiquity? 
 
 2. State the difference between Genuine and Spurious Apos- 
 
 tolic Succession. 
 
 3. Which preceded Denominational Principles, or Names? 
 
 4. State the Historic Development of the Church. 
 
 5. Quote proofs of Presbyterianism in the early days ofj 
 
 Christianity. 
 
 6. Who were the Waldenses? 
 
 7. Were they Presbyterian in all their parts? 
 
 8. What proof that they are now Presbyterian? 
 
 9. Give account of the origin of Celtic Christianity. 
 
 10. Explain its existence in Wales, Ireland, Scotland. 
 
 11. Why did England revert to Paganism? 
 
 12. What type did Augustine carry to England? 
 
 13. Show that St. Patrick in Ireland and the Culdees in Scot- 
 
 land were Christians- before Augustine landed in England. 
 
 14. Show that Celtic Christianity was not Roman Catholic. 
 
 15. Describe the conflict between Celtic and Latin Types. 
 
 16. Why did the Reformation flourish in Scotland? 
 
 17. Describe the conflict with Episcopacy. 
 
 18. Give account of the Covenanters' struggle. 
 
 19. Name some of the Consequences of the Restoration of the 
 
 Stuarts. 
 
 20. Why did the Westminster Confession fail in England ? 
 
 21. Was the Conflict transferred to America? 
 
 22. Was the War of the Revolution for Civil Rights alone? 
 
 23. What part did the Presbyterians play? 
 
 24. What was the chief victory obtained? 
 
 25. What is the Pan-Presbyterian Alliance? 
 
 26. What Historic Churches are represented in it ? 
 
 164 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Presbyterianism and Calvinism. 
 
 1. Explain the difference and relation of these Terms. 
 
 2. What Kindred Philosophies correspond to Fatalism and 
 
 Arminianism ? 
 
 3. What is the strongest support of Calvinism? 
 
 4. Give proof texts from sayings of Christ. 
 
 5. Give quotations from Paul, from Peter and John. 
 
 6. Give similar testimony of other inspired Writers. 
 
 7. How is Calvinism sustained by the Logic of Philosophy? 
 
 8. Demonstrate by the Consistency of the Divine Attributes. 
 
 9. Unless events are unchangeably fixed, could they be fore- 
 
 told by Prophecy? 
 
 10. Show that Conditional Decrees are contradictory. 
 
 11. How does Science bear blind Testimony to Truth? 
 
 12. In what way does Literature lend Assent? 
 
 13. What is the Calvinism of Presbyterianism? 
 
 14. Show that Calvinism is not Fatalism. 
 
 15. Show that Sovereignity and Free-Agency both taught. 
 
 16. Give illustrations from Analogy. 
 
 17. What influence has Calvinism on Moral Character? 
 
 18. Prove this contention by illustrations. 
 
 19. How does Calvinism vindicate the Justice of God? 
 
 20. How does it magnify the grace of God ? 
 
 21. Why is Calvinism revealed, if it be not a practical guide 
 
 in life? 
 
 16S 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Presbyterianism and Church Polity. 
 
 1. What is the first chapter of Church History? 
 
 2. Explain the difference between historic and scriptural, 
 
 3. What is the keystone of Church government ? 
 
 4. Show that the Prelatic Theory is untenable. 
 
 5. Refute the Congregational Theory. 
 
 6. What is the Presbyterian Interpretation? 
 
 7. Name some of the principles practiced. 
 
 8. Show that rulers and not the people acted. 
 
 9. Prove this principle by other scripture, 
 
 10. By names of rulers and distinctions between the classes. 
 
 11. By directions how to rule. 
 
 12. By instructions to obey rulers. 
 
 13. By plurality of elders in every church. 
 
 14. Did the Apostles exercise more authority than elders? 
 
 15. Show the equality of elders. 
 
 16. How does this Council exhibit the Unity of the Church? 
 
 17. What figures applied to the Church are expressions of 
 
 Unity? 
 
 18. Did the decision affect only part of the Church? 
 
 19. Show that it exhibits the right of appeal. 
 
 20. Show that the Council appealed to the Word of God. 
 
 21. Has any church court the right to make law for the Church ? 
 
 22. Who is the sole Ruler and Head of the Church ? 
 
 23. How can the Church today ascertain the mind of the Spirit? 
 
 166 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Presbyterianism and the Sacraments. 
 The Lord's Supper, 
 
 1. What is the order of the Sacraments? 
 
 2. What bearing have they on the Identity of the Church ? 
 
 3. What is the purpose and significance of a Sacrament? 
 
 4. What were the Sacraments of the Old Testament? 
 
 5. What are the Sacraments of the Church today? 
 
 6. Show that they are the same as in Old Testament. 
 
 7. What are the two elements in every Sacrament? 
 
 8. Define the Lord's Supper. 
 
 9. What is the Catholic Interpretation? 
 
 10. Show that it contradicts our Senses and Reason. 
 
 11. What is the Lutheran Interpretation? 
 
 12. How does it contradict the laws of Nature? 
 
 13. What is the Zwinglian Theory? 
 
 14. What is its Defect? 
 
 15. What is the Calvinistic? 
 
 16. What is the purpose of the Lord's Supper? 
 
 17. Why is it a Symbolic Ordinance? 
 
 18. What do its Symbols teach? 
 
 19. What is the Significance of a Sealing Ordinance? 
 
 20. Illustrate by the threefold uses of a Seal. 
 
 21. What does it Commemorate? 
 
 22. What does it Anticipate? 
 
 23. What is meant by a gracious ordinance? 
 
 24. What Exercises does it awaken in a Believer? 
 
 25. How may its observance be improved? 
 
 26. Will it be observed in Heaven? 
 
 167 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Presbyterianism and the Sacraments. 
 Baptism. 
 
 1. Define Baptism. 
 
 2. Is the mode Essential? 
 
 3. What is the difference between Bapto and Baptize? 
 
 4. What is the classic use in Greek Literature? 
 
 5. Were the Israelites baptized in the Red Sea? 
 
 6. Were they Immersed? 
 
 7. What Jewish Ceremonies were called Baptisms ? 
 
 8. What terms did the prophets use for Ceremonial Clean- 
 
 sing? 
 
 9. Was Christ baptized by the Jewish Mode? 
 
 10. What Ceremonies among the Jews were called Baptisms in 
 
 the New Testament? 
 
 11. What was the Mode of Baptism by the Holy Ghost? 
 
 12. If the Spirit was "poured out," what mode would that 
 
 imply ? 
 
 13. If Sinners are cleansed by "the Sprinkling of blood," how 
 
 should that be represented symbolically? 
 
 14. Show that the circumstances attending the Baptism of the 
 
 Eunuch were not favorable to Immersion. 
 
 15. What do the circumstances in Paul's Baptism indicate? 
 
 16. Do the circumstances in the Jailor's case make Immersion 
 
 practically impossible ? 
 
 17. Does "buried in baptism" indicate the element was "water," 
 
 or "death?" 
 
 18. Did the mode of burial among the Ancients have any resem- 
 
 blance to "Watery graves ?" 
 
 19. What is the significance of being "Buried with Christ"? 
 
 20. How were we crucified with Christ? 
 
 168 
 
21. Would "crucified" be used in a Spiritual sense and "buried" 
 
 be used in a literal sense ? 
 
 22, What is the significance of "One Lord, one Faith and 
 
 one Baptism?" 
 
 )69 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 Presbyterianism and the Covenant. 
 
 Infant Church Membership and Baptism 
 
 1. Are Children involved in Human Relationships? 
 
 2. What has been the Historic Practice of the Church? 
 
 3. Did the Covenant of Works include Children? 
 
 4. Name other Covenants involving Children? 
 
 5. What are included in the Abrahamic Covenant? 
 
 6. Are heirs of Christ also the seed of Abraham ? 
 
 7. Does the Circumcision of Christ warrant Infant Church 
 
 Membership ? 
 
 8. Did Christ include Children in the Kingdom? 
 
 9. If the Church is the "fold" of Christ, should the "Sheep" 
 
 be included and the "Lambs" excluded ? 
 
 10. Did the Pentecost invitation with its "Promise" include 
 
 children ? 
 
 11. Are Circumcision and Baptism identical? 
 
 12. What status does Paul assign to children? 
 
 13. Were Children included in the First Baptism? 
 
 14. Name the various Household Baptisms mentioned in New 
 
 Testament. 
 
 15. Are children a part of a household? 
 
 16. Why are no Household Baptisms mentioned except among 
 
 Gentile Converts? 
 
 17. Is there, any stronger argument for Infant Salvation than 
 
 for Infant Baptism? 
 
 18. Are the arguments for the two practically identical? 
 
 19. Do Churches which forbid the Baptism of children produce 
 
 a higher type of Christian Character than others? 
 
 170 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Presbyterianism in Action. 
 
 "•-. What is Christ's Criterion of Character? 
 
 2. What influence do Creeds have on Character? 
 
 3. Who is credited as the Author of Modern Liberty ? 
 
 4. Narrate Some Achievements of Calvinism. 
 
 5. Give account of the Struggle in France. 
 
 6. Who was the Founder of the Dutch Republic? 
 
 7. Quote some of the Tributes paid Scotland. 
 
 8. Give account of the Conflict in England. 
 
 9. What was the Issue in the Battle of the Boyne ? 
 
 10. Who proclaimed the First Declaration of Independence in 
 
 the United States? 
 
 11. What part did Presbyterians play in the Revolution? 
 
 12. What Church has furnished the Martyrs of the Ages ? 
 
 13. Give some account of the Early Ages. 
 
 14. Tell of the Waldensian Martyrs. 
 
 15. Give account of St. Bartholomew's Day. 
 
 16. Narrate the Persecutions in Holland. 
 
 17. Describe "The Killing Time" in Scotland. 
 
 18. What are some modern forms of Persecution? 
 
 19. Illustrate the influence of Calvinism on Individual Lives. 
 
 20. Who was William the Silent? John Knox? Andrew 
 
 Melville? Coligny? Stonewall Jackson? Woodrow 
 Wilson ? 
 
 21. Illustrate Influence on National Life. 
 
 22. Give Summary of Achievements of Calvinists. 
 
 171 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Presbyterianism and Catholicity. 
 
 1. What IS the Teaching of its Confession on the Communion 
 
 of Saints? 
 
 2. Does its definiton of the Church include others? 
 
 3. Does it guarantee the Right of Private Judgment? 
 
 4. Does it recognize others in dismissing members or receiv- 
 
 ing them from other Christian Bodies? 
 
 5. Are its gifts confined to itself? 
 
 6. Name some of its liberality to other enterprises. 
 
 7. Show its preeminence in Federation Movements. 
 
 8. Are its fundamental principles shared by others? 
 
 9. In what way are others beginning to conform to its Type ? 
 
 10. Show its Catholicity by extent of its numbers. 
 
 11. Show this by the extent of its Territory. 
 
 12. In what sense is it World-Wide? 
 
 172 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 ^refibpterianfem anb Miiiiom 
 
 1. What is the chief Mission of the Church? 
 
 2. Show that the essential principles of Calvinism are calculated 
 
 to promote Missions. 
 
 3. What are the practical proofs of the Missionary Spirit? 
 
 4. What was the chief characteristic of the First Century? 
 
 5. Who was the greatest Calvinist and Missionary — ^Why? 
 
 6. Give account of the First Protestant Mission undertaken. 
 
 7. What was the character of Calvin's Missionary Work ? 
 
 8. Show that Calvinism was inherently Missionary. 
 
 9. What part has Calvinism had in Modern Revivals? 
 
 10. Name some of the greatest Calvinistic Missionaries of the 
 
 World. 
 
 11. Show the Missionary Spirit of Presbyterianism. 
 
 12. Recite some of the Testimonies to that effect. 
 
 13. Give account of American Presbyterianism in Missions. 
 
 14. Show the Cosmopolitan Character of Presbyterianism. 
 
 15. What is the guarantee of Victory? 
 
 16. Demonstrate it by Prophecy. 
 
 17. Show that the Eternal Decree of God guarantees the 
 
 triumph of Christ and His universal reign. 
 
 173 
 
INDEX 
 
 Achievements, Presbyterian, 138, 
 
 139 
 Adams, John, President, quoted, 40 
 America, Conflict in, 39, 125 
 Ancient Church and Missions, 152 
 Anglo-Saxon, Reversion to Pagan- 
 ism, 28 
 
 Apostolic succession, 19, 20 
 Armaud, Henri, quoted, 24 
 Arminianism, 42 
 Attributes, Divine, and Calvinism, 
 
 48 
 Augustine, Missionary, 28 
 
 Baker, Judge Henry, quoted, 138 
 
 Bancroft, quoted, 125 
 
 Baptism and Circumcision, 107, 112 
 
 Baptism, Classic, 89 
 
 Baptism, Definition, 87 
 
 Baptism, Individuals, 97 
 
 Baptism into death, 99 
 
 Baptism, Jewish, 92 
 
 Baptism, Mode not essential, 88 
 
 Baptism, New Testament Usage, 96 
 
 Baptism of Children Scriptural, 106 
 
 Baptism of Christ, 9.4 
 
 Baptism of Holy Ghost, 96 
 
 Baptism of Infants Historic, 103 
 
 Baptism, Prophetic, 93 
 
 Baptism, Red Sea, 91, 114 
 
 Baptisms, Household, 115 
 
 Bapto vs. Baptizo, 88 
 
 Barnes, Albert, quoted, 42 
 
 Beecher, Henry Ward, quoted, 136 
 
 Bible, Only Rule of Faith, 3, 75 
 
 Bohemia, Martyrdom, 132 
 
 Boyne, Battle of, 124 
 
 Brevard, Ephraim and Declaration, 
 
 40 
 Briggs, Chas. A., quoted, 145 
 Britannica Encyclopedia, quoted, 74 
 Buckle, quoted, 119, 123 
 
 Calvin and Missions, 153 
 Calvinism, Achievements, 139 
 Calvinism and Liberty, 119 
 Calvinism and Missions, 151, 154 
 Calvinism and Revivals, 155 
 
 Calvinism differs from Fatalism, 43, 
 
 51 
 Calvinism, Guaranty of Victory, 160 
 Calvinism, Influence on Moral Char- 
 acter, 55 
 Calvinism, Keynote, Grace, 44 
 Calvinism magnifies grace, 44, 56 
 Calvinism of Presbyterianism, 51 
 Calvinism, Philosophy, 6, 43 
 Calvinism, Scope of, 6 
 Calvinism vindicates justice, 56 
 Calvinism, Why Revealed, 57 
 Cariyle, Thomas, quoted, 137 
 Catholicity, Presbyterian, 140 
 Campbell, quoted, 122 
 Celtic Christianity, 26, 27 
 Children and Christ, 108 
 Children and Kingdom, 109 
 Children, Status of, 113 
 Choate, Rufus, quoted, 127 
 Christ and Calvinism, 45 
 Christianity, Eariy Days of, 22 
 Christianity, Celtic, 26 
 Church, Being vs. Well being, 2 
 Church Courts, Graduation of, 16 
 Church Government, Forms of, 11, 
 
 12 
 Church, Identity of, 77 
 Church Polity, Scriptural, 59 
 Church, Right of Appeal, 74 
 Church, Spiritual Character, 17 
 Church, Unity of, 71-74 
 Circumcision and Baptism, 107, 112 
 Clark, Adam, quoted, 48 
 Columba, St., quoted, 29 
 Community of Life, 144 
 Conformity to Presbyterian Type, 
 
 146 
 Co-operation, Presbyterian, 142 
 Cosmopolitan Presbyterianism, 159 
 Covenant and Children, 102 
 Covenant, Abrahamic, 105 
 Covenanters, 33-36, 132 
 Council, Advisory, inadequate, 63 
 Council, Jerusalem, Keystone, 60 
 Council, Prelacy untenable, 61 
 Council, Principles Presbyterian, 65 
 -68 
 
 175 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 PRESBYTERIANISM— A SYSTEM. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 1. Kindred Principles form a Complete System. 
 
 2. Basic Principle in Nature, Philosophy and Religion. 
 
 3. Presbyterianism, a Distinctive System of Truth. 
 
 I. The First Principle. 
 
 The Word of God, the only Rule of Faith and Practice. 
 
 1. Variations Illustrated. 
 
 2. Presbyterianism Insists on the Whole Bible. 
 
 3. Its Principles Interwoven Throughout the Scriptures. 
 
 II. The Second Principle. 
 
 Emphasizes Divine Sovereignty and Human Free-Agency. 
 
 1. A System of Theology and a Type of Philosophy. 
 Solution of the Universe and Explanation of Providence. 
 Predestination, the Purpose of God in Eternity. 
 Providence, the Unfolding of That Purpose. 
 
 2. Sovereignty, and Free-Agency Illustrated. 
 Old Testament Illustration — Joseph. 
 
 New Testament Illustration — Parable of the Lost. 
 
 3. Analogy of Nature, Architecture, Pattern. 
 
 III. The Third Principle. 
 
 Presbyterianism, A Government hy Elders. 
 
 1, Three Primary Forms of Government. 
 
 2. The Elements of the Presbyterian Form : 
 
 (1) Election of Representatives by the People. 
 
 (2) Identity of Elders and Bishops. 
 
 (3) Plurality of Elders in Every Church. 
 
 (4) Ordination by a Church Court. 
 
 (5) Gradation of Courts from Lower to Higher. 
 
 IV. The Fourth Principle. 
 
 The Spiritual Character of the Church. 
 
 1. No Commission to Function in Civil AflFairs. 
 
 2. The Mission of the Church is Evangelistic. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 PRESBYTERIANISM IN HISTORY. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 The Antiquity of Presbyterianism. 
 
 1. Apostolic Succession, — Spurious vs. Genuine. 
 
 2. Principles Precede Denominational Names. 
 
 3. Historic Development of the Church. 
 
 viii 
 
I. The Early Days of Christianity. 
 
 1. Presbyterianism, Historic and Scriptural. 
 
 2. Testimony of Edward Gibbon and Jerome. 
 
 II. The Waldenses. 
 
 1. Principles, Not Always, Nor in All Parts, Presbyterian 
 
 2. Through Persecution "Kept the Faith." 
 
 3. Represented in Pan Presbyterian Alliance. 
 
 III. Celtic Christianity. 
 
 1. Ancient Origin Unaccountable. 
 
 2. Reversion to Paganism in England. 
 
 3. Christianity Restored by Augustine the Monk. 
 
 4. St. Patrick in Ireland Preceded Him. 
 
 5. lona and the Culdees. 
 
 6. Type Not the Modern Papal System. 
 
 7. Huguenots, Dutch and Hungarians Had Same Conflict. 
 
 IV. Conflict Between Presbytery and Episcopacy. 
 
 1. The Westminster Confession of Faith. 
 
 2. The Covenanters "Kept the Faith." 
 
 3. The Heroic Struggle in Scotland. 
 
 4. The Restoration of the Stuarts. 
 
 (1) Political Consequences. 
 
 (2) Religious Disaster. 
 
 V. The Conflict Transferred to America. 
 
 1. War of the Revolution Not for Civil Rights Alone. 
 
 2. Presbyterians Played the Larger Part. 
 
 3. Chief Victory Was Religious Liberty. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PRESBYTERIANISM AND CALVINISM. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 1. Relation Between These Terms. 
 
 2. Kindred Principles of Philosophy. 
 
 I. "To the Law and to the Testimony." 
 
 1. The Testimony of Christ. 
 
 2. The Theology of Paul, Peter and John. 
 
 3. Statements of Other Inspired Writers. 
 
 II. The Logic of Philosophy. 
 
 1. The Nature of the Divine Attributes. 
 
 2. Contingent Events Cannot Be Predicted. 
 
 3. Conditional Decrees — A Contradiction. 
 
 III. Science and Literature. 
 
 1. Science — Blind Testimony to the Truth. 
 
 2. Literature Lends Its Assent. 
 
 IV. The Calvinism of Presbyterianism. 
 
 1. Calvinism, Not Fatalism. 
 
 2. Sovereignty and Free-Agency Alike Taught. 
 
 Illustrations Support the Truth. 
 
 ix 
 
3. Influence of Calvinism on Character. 
 
 4. Calvinism Vindicates the Justice of God. 
 
 5. Magnifies the Grace of God. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PRESBYTERIANISM AND CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 1. The Historic Appeal vs. Scriptural Appeal. 
 
 2. The Council at Jerusalem, Keystone of Church Polity. 
 
 I. The Prelatic Theory Untenable. 
 
 1. There Were Apostles at Antioch, If Inspiration Needed. 
 
 2. Arguments in an Inspired Council, Out of Place. 
 
 II. Advisory Principle Inadequate. 
 
 1. Refuted by Composition — "Apostles and Elders." 
 
 2. By the Binding Authority of the Decrees. 
 
 3. By the Extent of Its Jurisdiction. 
 
 III. The Presbyterian System Sustained. 
 
 Established by the Principles Practiced. 
 
 1. Rulers, Not the People, Acted. 
 
 (1) Confirmed by Other Teachings and Acts. 
 
 (2) Names and Distinctions Indicate Two Classes. 
 
 (3) Directions, How to Rule, Imply Two Classes. 
 
 (4) Instructions to the People to "Obey" Rulers. 
 
 (5) Plurality of Elders Cannot Otherwise Be Explained. 
 
 2. Disproves the Claims of Prelacy. 
 
 (1) Decision, Not by "Apostles" Only But Includes "Elders." 
 
 (2) Apostles Present as Ruling Elders. 
 
 (3) Elders Present in the Capacity of Rulers. 
 
 3. Equality of the Eldership. 
 
 (1) Associated v/ith Apostles on Equality. 
 
 (2) Decree Published in Name of Elders as Well. 
 
 4. Exhibits the Unity of the Church. 
 
 (1) Affected Not Antioch Alone But Whole Church. 
 
 (2) Name "Church" in the Singular, Expressing Unity. 
 
 (3) Figures Employed— "Family," "Temple." "Body." 
 
 5. Exhibits the Right of Appeal. 
 
 (1) Trouble at Antioch Settled at Jerusalem. 
 
 (2) Furnishes Precedent for Similar Cases. 
 
 ■ 6. Shows Scriptures as the Sole Authority. 
 
 (1) The Council Appealed to Scriptures. 
 
 (2) Not Legislative But Declarative. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 PRESBYTERIANISM AND THE SACRAMENTS. 
 The Lord's Supper. 
 Introduction. 
 
 1. The Identity of the Church. 
 
 2. The Proofs of That Identity. 
 
(1) Church in All Ages Had the Same Theology. 
 
 (2) Salvation by Faith Under Each Dispensation. 
 
 (3) Sacraments, the Same in Both Testaments. 
 
 (4) Constitution, the Same — Government by Elders. 
 
 I. The Significance and Purpose of a Sacpament. 
 
 1. Definition of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 2. Diverse Interpretations. 
 
 (1) Roman Catholic Contradicts Senses and Reason. 
 
 (2) The Lutheran Contradicts Law of Nature. 
 - (3) The Zwinglian Inadequate. 
 
 II. The Calvinistic Interpretation. 
 
 1. Symbolic of Redemption. 
 
 2. Sealing Ordinance. 
 
 3. Commemoration of Calvary. 
 
 4. Anticipation of Second Coming, 
 
 5. Gracious Purpose. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PRESBYTERIANISM AND THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Baptism. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 1. Definition of Baptism. 
 
 2. Mode, Not Essential. 
 
 I. The Meaning of the Word. 
 
 1. Classic Meaning in Greek Literature. 
 
 2. Difference Between Bapto and Baptizo. 
 
 II. Scriptural Usages Determine the Mode. 
 
 1. Baptized in the Red Sea, But Not Immersed. 
 
 2. Jewish Ritual Baptisms. 
 
 3. Prophetic Baptisms. 
 
 4. The Baptism of Christ — ^Jewish. 
 
 5. New Testament Usage of Terms. 
 
 6. Baptism by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 7. Individual Baptisms. 
 
 8. Baptism "Into Death"— Not Water. 
 
 9. Sprinkling, Common to Both Testaments. 
 10. "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism." 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PRESBYTERIANISM AND THE COVENANT. 
 Infant Church Membership. 
 Introduction. 
 
 1. Human Relationships. 
 
 2. The Historic Practice of the Church. 
 
 I. The Covenants and the Children. 
 
 1. The Covenant with Adam for His Posterity. 
 
 2. The Abrahamic Covenant. 
 
 xi 
 
II. Scriptural Warrant for Baptism of Children. 
 
 1. The Circumcision of Christ. 
 
 2. Christ and the Children. 
 
 3. The Fold and the Lambs. 
 
 4. Pentecost and the Promise, 
 
 5. Circumcision and Baptism Identical. 
 
 6. The Status of Children. 
 
 7. The First Baptism. 
 
 8. Household Baptisms in New Testament. 
 
 9. Infant Baptism vs. Infant Salvation. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PRESBYTERIANISM IN ACTION. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 1. "Wisdom Justified of Her Children." 
 
 2. Creeds Influence Character. 
 
 I. Calvinism and Liberty. 
 
 1. The Huguenots of France. 
 
 2. The Dutch Republic. 
 
 3. The Covenanters of Scotland. 
 
 4. The Puritans and Presbyterians in England. 
 
 5. The Heroic Struggle in America. 
 
 II. Presbyterianism and Martyrdom. 
 
 1. The Early Days of Christianity. 
 
 2. The Waldensian Martyrs. 
 
 3. "The Burning Bush" in France. 
 
 4. The Duke of Alva in Holland. 
 
 5. "The Killing Time" in Scotland. 
 
 6. Modern Persecutions. 
 
 III. Presbyterianism and Moral Character. 
 
 1. Individual Illustrations. 
 
 2. National Character. 
 
 3. Summary of Achievements. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PRESBYTERIANISM AND CATHOLICITY. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 1. The Confession of Faith Recognizes "Communion of Saints.*' 
 
 2. Guarantees "Right of Private Judgment." 
 
 I. The Recognition of Other Faiths. 
 
 L Dismisses Members Freely to Other Denominations. 
 2. Accepts Certificates From All Evangelical Churches, 
 
 II. Presbyterian Cooperation. 
 
 I. Liberal Support of Undenominational Enterprises, 
 
 III. Presbyterian Preeminence in Federation. 
 
 1. Commends and Enters All Joint Organizations. 
 
 xll 
 
IV. Community of Faith and Life. 
 
 1. In Some Form All its Principles Endorsed by Others. 
 
 2. Its Spiritual Life Shared by Various Others. 
 
 V. Conforming to the Presbyterian Type. 
 
 1. Many Others Incorporating its Essential Features. 
 
 VI. Catholicity in Extent of Empire. 
 
 1. In the Multitude of its Numbers. 
 
 2. World Wide Extent of its Territory. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PRESBYTERIANISM AND MISSIONS. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 1. The Mission of the Church. 
 
 2. Presumption in Favor of the Missionary Spirit of Calvinism. 
 
 I. Results, the Practical Test. 
 
 1. Missionary Spirit of First Century. 
 
 2. Paul, the Model Missionary. 
 
 3. John Calvin and Missions. 
 
 4. Father of Evangelical Missions. 
 
 5. First Effort of Protestantism in Missions. 
 
 II. Calvinism, Inherently Missionary. 
 
 1. Successes in Europe. 
 
 2. Calvinism and Modern Revivals. 
 
 III. The Missionary Spirit of Presbyterianism. 
 
 1. Leads in Gifts and Missionary Heroes. 
 
 2. Testimonies to its Achievements. 
 
 3. American_ Presbyterian Effort. 
 
 4. Cosmopolitan Character of Presbyterianism. 
 
 IV. Calvinism, the Guarantee of Victory. 
 
 1. Prophecy, the Assurance of Triumph. 
 
 2. The Divine Decree Guarantees Christ's Victory. 
 
 Xlll 
 
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