June 2014

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June 4: The Queensferry Paper [1680]

4 June, 2014 in June 2014 by davidtmyers | No comments

The Most Advanced of All the Covenanting Manifestos

It was known simply as the Queensferry Paper, primarily because it was found on the body of a Covenanter in South Queensferry, Scotland on June 4, 1680.  Henry Hall was his name.  He had been traveling with another Covenanter by name of Donald Cargill.  Government officials had attempted to arrest both of them, but Cargill had been able to escape.  Hall was wounded and later died from his wounds.  Searching him, they found the six thousand word document known ever afterwards as the Queensferry Declaration.  It, as Alexander Smellie stated in  his book “Men of the Covenant,” was “the most advanced of all the covenanting manifestos.”

Summing it up by eight principles, number one covenanted with and acknowledgement was made of the Trinity and for the Bible as the rule of faith.  Consider the words!  “We acknowledge and vouch the only true and living God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to be our God and that we close with his way of redemption by his Son Jesus Christ, and rely upon his righteousness, as that righteousness only  whereby a man can be justified before God.”  Any of our readers would easily say “Amen,” to these words.  It went on to speak of their conviction that the Bible was by divine revelation and the only object of our faith and the rule of our life in all things.

The second section spoke of advancing God’s kingdom and freeing the church from both prelacy and Erastianism.  The latter was removing the belief that the state was the ruler of the church in ecclesiastical matters.  They desired that the members of the church would be able to serve God in holy ways without fear and possess their civil rights peaceably without disturbance.

Number three covenanted to uphold the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, with her standards, government, worship — all independent of the state.  They boldly confessed with their mouths and believed with their hearts the teaching of the reformed churches, contained in Scripture and summed up in the confession of faith.  They pledged to persevere in them to the end.

The kingdom of darkness was to be overthrown, by their fourth declaration.  The aforementioned kingdom was Romanism, the Anglican church, and that system of Erastianism.   They spoke of being bound by the Solemn League and Covenant.

Next, and this was the primary part of the Queensferry document, they indicated their desire to discard the royal family and set up a republic in their stead.  Of the 6000 words in the paper, this point occupied about 2100 words.  This was revolutionary in the British Isles.  And it was sadly used to paint all Covenanters as being disloyal to the throne of England.  The writers of this covenant wrote that in the light of Exodus 18:21, they could rule themselves.

Sixth, the paper spoke to those who in their minds had compromised the Scottish covenant by receiving the various deals of the government of England.  They pledged not to listen to such any more in the pulpits of the kingdom.

Seventh, the covenant promised to refuse the ministerial function unless they were duly called and ordained.  Thus, there were not promises of a new church, but rather a return to the true church of the past.

And the last resolution was that its adherents will defend their God-given worship and liberty.  They who would assault them could be assaulted in return.  In short, this was the basis for the battles some of  the Covenanters fought in Scotland.

This declaration was never published by the Covenanters themselves.  It was stolen off Henry Hall’s body and passed off as the real purpose of all Presbyterians in the kingdom, who never signed it as they had signed previous Covenants.

Words to Live By: There is certainly nothing wrong with advocating positions for prayer and action.  But we must be careful to do so in the light of God’s Word always.  From Ephesians chapter 6, our weapons are to be spiritual, never carnal.  We will never know how many of Scottish Presbyterians would have signed this covenant, as in God’s permissive will, it was hindered from being presented to them nation wide.  But it is still part of the overall testimony of Scotland’s spiritual history, and so we include it in Today in Presbyterian History.

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June 3: Attendance at Church Courts

3 June, 2014 in June 2014 by archivist | No comments

As we are now upon the annual season when the various Presbyterian denominations typically meet in General Assembly, the following short post seems appropriate to repeat here. It is taken from an 1836 issue of THE CHARLESTON OBSERVER.

pcaga_1973Attendance and participation in the courts of the Church—those meetings of the Session, the Presbytery and the General Assembly—always involve some level of personal cost and expense for each attendee. For some the cost is greater than for others. This is one reason why the meetings of Presbytery and General Assembly move regularly from one location to another, so that inconveniences are averaged out over time for all the officers of the Court.

All of this is nothing new. There have always been those who questioned the expense, and perhaps not without good reason, each in his own situation. But as you will read, there are also good and compelling answers urging upon Commissioners their full participation at the Courts of the Church.

For The Charleston Observer.

Mr. Editor.—Is it my duty to travel between four and five hundred miles, at an expense of at least fifty dollars [at least a month’s wages in 1836], for the sole purpose of attending Synod, when in all probability its business would be as well conducted without as with my presence? And in so doing I should be necessarily absent from the people of my charge two, if not three Sabbaths?
—A Member of Synod.

REPLY.—We answer,
1. Should every member of Synod conclude from similar premises that it was not his duty to attend, there would be no meeting at the time and place appointed, and of course no business done.

2. One member frequently changes the entire complexion of a meeting; and no one has a right to suppose that his presence is a matter of indifference.

3. If the member can afford the expense it will be money well laid out, and if not, his people should aid him. The time occupied in going and returning, may often be profitably employed. The journey may be of advantage to his health. In conference with his brethren he may receive a new impulse in his Christian course, and be better prepared to  labor  with effect among his people on his return; so that neither he nor they will be losers by his absence.

4. When he was set apart to the work of the Ministry, he was expected to make many sacrifices for the good of the cause. And if his brethren to whom he has solemnly promised subjection in the Lord, did not regard attendance upon the Judicatories of the Church as important, they would not have exacted an apology or excuse for non-attendance.

5. Instances are exceedingly rare that a Minister has ever cause to regret the sacrifices which he has made in attending the Judicatories of the Church. On the contrary he most usually feels himself amply repaid for all the sacrifices which it has cost him.

6. The present crisis of the Church seems to demand more than ever a full attendance both of Ministers and Elders, cost what it may.

[With that last point, keep in mind that in 1836, the Old School/New School debate was raging in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., and the momentous split of those two factions came a year later]

[excerpted from The Charleston Observer, vol. 10, no. 39 (24 September 1836); 154, column 4.]

Image source: Photograph of the First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America [originally named the National Presbyterian Church, and renamed a year later.], meeting at the Briarwood Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, Alabama, December 4-7, 1973. The photograph is found as part of the Records of the Presbyterian Journal, Box 243, file 11, at the PCA Historical Center.

Tis The Season:
RCUS Synod met May 19-22 in Sutton, NE

URCNA Synod meets June 3-6 in Visalia, CA

OPC General Assembly meets June 4-10 in Grand Rapids, MI

ARP meets June 10-13 at the Bonclarken Camp and Conference Center, Flat Rock, NC

PCA General Assembly meets June 17-21 in Houston, TX

RPCNA Synod meets June 23-27 in Marion, IN at Indiana wesleyan University

 

 

 

 

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June 2: Two Miracles in the Life of Ebenezer Erskine

2 June, 2014 in June 2014 by davidtmyers | No comments

There are two miracles associated with our Scottish subject today, Ebenezer Erskine [1680-1754].  One of the miracles was in the physical realm and the second was spiritual.

erskine_ebenezerFirst, for the physical miracle, Ebenezer Erskine was born after his mother died.  It may take a few minutes for that fact to sink in, but it is nevertheless true.  Let me explain.  Ebenezer’s father,  Henry, was a Presbyterian minister in Scotland.  He was married to Margaret.  One day, his wife died.  She had a very beautiful and expensive gold ring on her finger.  The family tried to get it off, but her finger was so swollen that it was impossible.  So she was laid in a coffin and taken to the graveyard near the church.  The sexton, who was officiating at the funeral, also saw the gold ring on her finger.  After the funeral, around midnight, he dug up the casket, opened it, and tried to remove the ring with a sharp knife.  Blood spurted out, and the “corpse” sat up.  Margaret climbed out of the casket and walked to the manse near the cemetery.  (We are not told in the true story what happened to the sexton!)  She knocked at the door. It was opened, and everyone was astonished, including her mourning husband.  Ebenezar, to say nothing of his younger brother, Ralph, was literally born of one who was raised from the dead.

The second miracles was spiritual in nature.  Ebenezer, who was born in 1680, went to the University of Edinburgh, graduating in 1703.  Ordained by the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, he began his ministry as the pastor of a church in Portmoak, Scotland, preaching a mixture of law and gospel, with an emphasis on good works.  His wife, Alison Turpie Erskine, being a solid believer, wept for her husband’s hard heart.  But God’s Spirit was going to move in that heart in a marvelous way.

In God’s providence, Ebenezer overheard his wife and her brother talking about the gospel.  What they said about it troubled his heart.  Then his wife became very ill, and in her delirium, spoke of the things of God to her caring husband.  Ebenezer continued to be troubled.  She became well, and both of them began to converse about the gospel and its message.  He in his own words, “got his head out of time and into eternity.”  His heart was converted.  He covenanted with God the following: “I offer myself up, soul and body, unto God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. I flee for shelter to the blood of Jesus.  I will live to Him.  I will die to Him. I take heaven and earth to witness that all I am and all I have is His.”

From henceforth, his messages were all of grace.  He knew how, one said, to introduce Jesus Christ to a sinner.  People so flocked to his worship services that the building could not contain them.  He spent 28 years in his first pastorate before moving to Stirling, Scotland, where he stayed the rest of his life and ministry until 1754.

The first succession from the Church of Scotland came in 1740 under  his leadership.  It was over the old issue of patronage, discussed elsewhere in Today.  It also involved a doctrinal issue centered around the doctrine found in a book entitled “The Marrow of Modern Divinity.”  The church he began was first called the Associate Presbytery.  He died on June 2, 1754.

His name is immortalized today in the educational institutions of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, namely, Erskine College and Erskine Theological Seminary.

Words to Live By:
Reader, look back into your own life, spiritual and otherwise, for extraordinary evidences of God’s working in the past and present.  Then render thanksgiving for each one and share them with others, for either their conviction, if an unbeliever, or for their encouragement, if a fellow believer.

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June 1: The Ecclesiastical Trial of Dr. J. Gresham Machen

1 June, 2014 in June 2014 by archivist | No comments

 

What follows is a reproduction of a news clipping from an unidentified paper, providing a contemporary account of the ecclesiastical trial of Dr. J. Gresham Machen in 1935. The photograph is from an earlier date, perhaps March 1, 1935:

PRESBYTERIANS TO DISCIPLINE ACTING ELDER

Assembly Orders Synod To Act Against J.E. Bennett, Of N.Y.

REFUSED TO QUIT INDEPENDENT BOARD

Dr. Machen’s Group Loses New Move; Church Rift Widened

[By the Associated Press]

Syracuse, N.Y., June 1 — The one hundred and forty-eighth assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. ordered disciplinary action today against a New York city acting elder for his participation on the Independent Board of Foreign Missions, a fundamentalist group. The assembly instructed the Synod of New York to instigate action against James E. Bennett, New York lawyer, for his refusal to resign from the independent organization. Previously the Presbytery of New York had refused to act.

machenTrial_corrected_72dpi

Formed by Dr. Machen
Formation of the independent board in 1924 by the Rev. Dr. J. Gresham Machen, of Philadelphia, rivaling the officially recognized group, precipitated a fight between fundamentalists and modernists. Dr. Machen and several associates already have been tried on charges of refusing to resign from the board, decisions in which are expected to be handed down by the judicial committee either tomorrow or Wednesday.

Told To Quit Quarreling
The 1,000 clergymen and laymen attending the assembly heard an appeal today to quit “quarreling about how you interpret the Bible and make God known to the children.” Offered in the form of a floor motion, the appeal came form David Bogue, of Portage, Wis., an elder, after several hours discussion on various subjects, participated in by fundamentalists and modernists.

Wild Applause Given
The assembly broke into wild applause. The motion was referred to the general council for consideration. Only a few moments before the assembly heard the Rev. Robert L. Vining, of Mifflinburg, Pa., criticize the Board of Christian Education for distributing literature “saturated with modernism and typical of much of the literature published by the Board of Christian Education.” The Rev. Mr. Vining mentioned these booklets specifically. They were titled “Christian Beliefs” and “A Survey of New Testament History,” by Eliot Porter, widely used in Presbyterian conferences, and a primary teachers’ pamphlet. The Pennsylvania minister attempted to amend the board’s program for the coming year to eliminate “such expressions of modernism,” but the assembly voted to refer the motion to committee.

Vote Is Delayed
The fundamentalist minority suffered a further setback when the assembly refused an immediate vote on its proposal to restrict members of the Board of Christian Education “to only such members who are faithful to the doctrinal standards.” The proposal, drafted by the fundamentalists headed by the Rev. Dr. Machen, was referred to the committee on policy.

Long Delay Seen
This action, it was pointed out, generally means a deferment of consideration for at least another year, or may “pigeon hole” the measure for all time. The fundamentalists sought to instruct the Board of Christian Education “that no one who denies the absolute necessity of such loyalty to the Bible, to the confession of faith, shall serve on its staff.” The assembly’s action further widened the breach between the fundamentalists and modernists, marked within the last twenty-four hours by another attack by Dr. Machen upon modernist doctrines.

Developments Listed
These were the rapid-fire developments as the one hundred and forty-eighth assembly moved into its fifth day:
1. Dr. Machen, fundamentalist leader, reiterated that the Judicial Commission decisions last week against his faction “renders inevitable a division in the church,” and charged that the present organization is “dominated by a modernism which is profoundly opposed to the Christian religion.”
2. Announcement of a meeting tomorrow night of Machen followers to discuss preliminary plans for creation of a separate church, preparatory to the Philadelphia convention late this month of the Constitutional Covenant Union.
3. Fundamentalists protested what they termed modernistic policies by the Board of Foreign Missions in China, and prepared to demand a reorganization of the Board of Christian Education “so as to assure the teaching of our doctrines.”

Preaches Sermon
Dr. Machen’s latest attack upon the modernist doctrines was made in a Sunday sermon in which he criticized what he termed the church’s demand that “we ministers submit our consciences to a living and shifting human authority.” “To that demand, he declared, “we must say very simply that ‘we ought to obey God rather than men.’ We cannot agree to take the Bible from our pulpits and put the last minutes of the General Assembly in its place.

[article transcribed from page 3 of an as yet unidentified newspaper]

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