The Presbyterian Creed
By I. A. S.
If press announcements are correct, the Presbyterian Church has changed its creed. The change was accomplished by vote of the general assembly at Los Angeles. The vote in favor of the change was almost unanimous. It is announced that the Presbyterian confession of faith “no longer compels belief in the old doctrines of Calvin,” on “predestination” and infant damnation; and that from this time henceforth the creed will teach “that God’s decree hinders no man from accepting the offer of salvation made through Jesus Christ, and that no man is condemned except by his sins.” All who die in infancy, the new creed says, are saved. Nine other changes in the creed have been made, but these two are the most important. The subject of divorce and remarriage was considered at some length by the assembly, and a report was adopted which forbids Presbyterian clergymen from performing a marriage ceremony between parties either of whom has been divorced on other grounds than those recognized as valid by the church, and pledging the influence of the church to an endeavor to secure such State and5national legislation as the church believes will correct the divorce evil. The Presbyterian Church is certainly to be congratulated on having shaken itself free from even a pretense of belief in the dreadful doctrines in question; for that such doctrines are not really believed by the people of this day, there can be little doubt. No more God-dishonoring doctrine than that of the damnation of infants to an eternal burning hell could possibly be conceived. And next to this, and almost equal to it in atrocity, is the doctrine of an eternal burning hell for adult sinners,—the doctrine that there will be a part of God’s universe where sin, sinners, and inconceivable suffering will eternally exist. Such a doctrine is diametrically opposed to the explicit Bible statement, “God is love.” Would that the Presbyterian Church, and all other churches as well, might advance to the point of freeing themselves from the unscriptural doctrine of immortality for sinners. Man was created to live forever, but he was created righteous; and it is the express purpose of God that only the righteous shall live forever. The very first thing that was done by God after the fall in Eden, was to send angels to guard the tree of life, lest man, who had become a sinner, should eat of its fruit and live forever. “The wages of sin is death,” and when the final settlement is made between God and man, no sinner will fail to receive the wages due him. No soul is by nature immortal. Life and immortality have been brought to light through the gospel (2 Tim. 1: 10), and only through the provisions of God’s grace will any person receive them. Those who reject the gospel are cut off from immortality. To say that man is naturally immortal is to rob Christ of a portion of his glory. To say that there will be an eternal hell is to say that sin will eternally exist, which is to deny God’s universal sovereignty. God will have a clean universe, where only love abounds; for he is love. A creed is an unfortunate thing for any church, because it tends to supersede the Word of God. The church is bound by its creed, the Bible is interpreted in harmony with the creed, and a barrier is erected which shuts off progress in receiving a knowledge of the truth, and brings the church to a standstill in the pathway of divine revelation. It would be much better for the Presbyterian Church and other churches if they would throw away their creeds, which have been demonstrated to be faulty, and study the Word of God, free from the bias of tradition and preconceived opinions. Sincere prayer, the Word of God, and the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit are the only things that count in an understanding of the truth which is unto salvation.