p. 106 | Revising Their Creed

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 18, 1902

Revising Their Creed.

The Presbyterian Church is revising its creed. For a long time the necessity of revision has been apparent, but how to accomplish the task gracefully and without loss of dignity to the Church has been a problem difficult of solution. The effort of the church authorities has been, it appears, to prepare statements which would explain the old creed in harmony with the views held by Presbyterians to-day, rather than to change the creed itself, in acknowledgment of its erroneous nature. It is announced that the revision committee have, thus far, prepared statements explaining the doctrine of predestination, of “elect infants,” and of the “man of sin.” The secretary of the committee declares that the American Presbyterian Church does not teach that any dying in infancy are lost. Not the least significant part of the revision is that which changes the article of the creed declaring the pope to be the “man of sin.”

The revision is, of course, an admission that the creed was wrong. The creed was wrong because it was the product of the intellect and wisdom of fallen, finite men. And any new creed that can be devised will necessarily rest on the same fallible basis, and be found wanting as a foundation of Christian faith. The true foundation is the word of God alone. The true creed is the word, the whole word, and nothing but the word, and the word just as it reads.