Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/432

* PRESBYTEBIANISM. 370 PKESBYTERIANISM. vision, consisting of 15 ministers and 10 ruling ciders. This committee presented a report in 1892 reoonimending sundry changes in the Confes- sion of Faith. Tliis report was sent to the pres- byteries, atlirmative votes from two-thirds of the presbytewes being needed to secure the adoption of the submitted changes. During this discussion the Church was agitated by the trial of Prof. Cliarles A. Briggs of Union Theological Semi- nary on the charge of heresy. This so imsettled the mind of the Chnrcli that many who under ordinary circumstances would have voted for revision believed it an inopportune time to sub- ject the standards to discussion or change. The overtures from the Assembly therefore failed of the constitutional majority and revision was for the time abandoned. The demand for some modi- fication of the Confession continued, however, and by I'JOO had become so general that the Assembly of that year appointed another committee of 15 to consider the whole question of a restatement of doctrine. It reported progress in inOl, was enlarged and continued with instructions to re- port the next year. At the Assembly of 1002 in the city of Xew York a unanimous re])ort was made. The committee recommended that addi- tional statements concerning the love of God for all men, missions, and the Holy Spirit be added in the form of new chapters to the Confession of Faith. It recommended a declaratory statement in reference to chapter iii. and chapter x., sec- tion 3; and textual modifications in chapter xvi., section 7 ; chapter xxii., section 3 ; chapter .XXV., section 6. These by direction of the Gen- eral Assembly* were transmitted to the pres- byteries for their action — report to be made to the Assembly of 11103. The committee also presented a brief statement of the Reformed Faith in 16 articles which was designed not to take the place of the Confession of Faith as a doctrinal standard of the Presbyterian Church, but to be an interpretation of it. This "Brief Statement of the Reformed Faith" was adopted with only two dissenting voices. It relates to the principal subjects of the Reformed Faith such as the Being of God, revelation, the eternal purpose, the creation, the sin of man. the grace of God, election, the Holy Spirit, the resurrection, and the life to come, the Cliurch and the sacraments, the last judgment, and Christian service. The great national expansion following the w-ar with Spain in 1898 gave a marked advance to the missionary operations of the Church. The field of home missions, which already extended to Alaska, was widened to include Porto Rico, and, later, Cuba, while in the Pacific the Philip- pine Islands were added to the vast foreign mis- sionary territory. The Presbyterian Church has also been triie to her historic devotion to education, secular and sacred. Presbyterian academies and colleges are found in all the States and Territories, while 13 theological seminaries iinder the care of the Assembly provide for the Church an educated ministry. They arc as follows: Princeton Theo- logical Seminary, at Princeton. N. J. (founded 1812) : Auburn Theological Seminary, at Auburn, N. Y. (1820) ; Western Theological Seminary, at Allegheny, Pa. (1827): Lane Theological Semi- nary, at Cincinnati (1832); Union Theological Seminary, New York (1836) ; McCormick theo- logical Seminar}', at Chicago (under General As- sembly 1859) ; Danville Theological Seminary, at Danville, Ky. (1859) ; San Francisco Theological Seminary, at San Anselmo, Cal. (1871): the Theological Seminary at Omaha, Neb. (1891); and two German theological seminaries, at Bloonitield, N. J. (1869), and at Dubuque, Iowa (1852). There is also a theological department in connection with Biddle University for Freed- men, established in 1808, and with Lincoln Uni- versity at Oxford, Pa., established in 1871 ; both of these are supplying ministers for the colored population. For further details, see the separate articles on the more important of the institutions named above. The Presbyterian Church in the United States. In May, 1861, the General Assembly, meeting in Philadelphia, adopted a paper in reference to the Civil War, which asserted the loyalty of the Church to the Union and promised the support of all its churches and ministers to the Federal Government. The Southern Presby- terians, feeling that the Church had exceeded her rights in pronouncing on a political question, "concluded that a separation from the General Assembly aforesaid was imperatively demanded. Not in the spirit of schism, but for the sake of peace and for the protection of the liberty with which Clirist had made them free." Accordingly the representatives of 47 presbyteries commis- sioned for that purpose met in Augusta, Ga., on December 4, 1801, and organized a new Assembly, designated as the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America. After the war, however, the word United was substituted for Confederate, and of America was dropped. The Southern Presbyterian Church disavows all con- nection with political matters, and emphasises its purelj- ecclesiastical mission. The words of the Rev."^Dr. B. M. Palmer, in 1886, voice the sentiment of the Church : "The simple fact re- mains that we were separated from the Church of our fathers upon a strictly political issue, which a spiritual court had no authority, either human or divine, to adjudicate. Whether we ourselves fully comprehended or not the significance of our withdrawal, the logic of the ease constituted us the asserters and guardians of this vital truth, the non-secular and non-political character of the Church of Jesus Christ, and whether we will or no, we must preach to the world this Gospel of the Kingdom." At the time of its organiza- tion the Southern Church included 10 synods, 47 presbj-teries, about 700 ministers, and 75,000 comnumicants, of whom 10,000 were of the Afri- can race. The missionary work of the Church is conducted by permanent committees, and is carried on in many foreign lands, as well as in our own coimtry. The interests of Publication and Colored Evangelization are also conducted by efficient committees. The standards of the Church are: The Westminster Confession of Faith, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, the Form of Ciovernmcnt and Directory for Worship, somewhat altered to suit the circumstances of the Church. Every Church officer is required to adopt them. This Church has theological seminaries at Rich- mond, Va. (Union Theological Seminary), and Columbia. S. C. (Columbia Theological Semi- nary). The seminary at Louisville and Danville Seminary have been united and the seminary is now at Louisville, Ky. There are also theological departments in connection with the University of