The Reformed Presbyterian Standard and also 0\ir ... - Rparchives.org

July 29. 1914.
A FAMILY PAPER.
EDITORIAL
John W. Pritchard, Editor.
A REVIEW BY REV. DR. J. G. CARSON.
(Of the three venerable retired professors
of Zenia Theological Seminary, Rev. Dr.
James Harper was the firstto pass away.
Then Rev. Dr. W. S. Moorehead was called
to his reward. Rev. Dr. J. G. Carson sur-
' (fives. He was a minister of the Associate
Church in 1858, when the Associate and the
Associate Reformed Churches came together,
forming the United Presbyterian Church.
Herewith we give extracts from a review by
him in the Christian Instructor oi the action
of the last Assembly on the matter of praise.
-Ed.)
In reviewing the action of the Assembly
relative to the i8th Article of the Testimony
two things are to be considered, viz.: First,
the import and scope of the action, and, Second,
its legitimate force and efifect.
This action was taken in response to a memorial,
or rather question, from the Presbytery
of Monongahela asking, "Does the i8th
Article of the Testimony prohibit the singing
in our churches of Scripture words other than
the Psalms" Taken in this form, it would
seem that the Presbytery of Monongahela was
as competent to answer this question as was
the Assembly, because nothing is specially
prohibited or "excluded" by that article except
the "devotional compositions of uninspired
men." The real question submitted by
the Presbytery and answered by the- Assem^
bly was, "Does the iSth Article allow or permit
the use of other inspired Scriptures than
those of the Psalms in the public wors'hip of
God" That this was the tunderstanding of
the Assembly is evident from' the second resolution
which declares "that the exercise of
such freedom," etc.—^"s'hall be at the discretion
and under the control of sessions."
The interpretation of this phrase, "For
Ihe purpose of impulse and instruction in the
way of life and for the comfort of believers,"
was mot worthy of the Assembly, seeing that
the first resolution specifically mentions "the
public worship of God" and that only.
This an&wer of the Assembly can only proceed
on fhe principle that what is not prohibited
is allowed in the worship of God,
which is in direct contravention of the principle
on which our Church, has acted in all
its history as embodied in the Confession of
Faith, Chap. 21, Sec. i: "The acceptable way
of worshipping the true God is instituted by
* Himself and so limited by His own revealed
will that He may not be worshipped according
to the imaginations and devices of men,
or in any way not prescribed in the Holy
Scriptures." See also answers to questions 50
3"'d' 51 of the Shorter Catechism together
with the passage of Scripture in confirmation
of it, Deut. 12:32. ""What thing soever I command
you observe to do it; thou s'halt not add
thereto nor diminish from it." This principle
is applied by the 18th Article of our Testimony
to the subject of Psalmody and is
contained in the positive declaration, "That
it is the will of God that the songs contained
in the Book of Psalms be sung in His
wors'hip, both public and private, to the end
of the world." Tbe additional statement, "And
in singing God's praise these songs should
be employed to the exclusion of the devotional
compositions of uninspired men," is
simply an inference or corollary logically deducible
from the preceding declaration or
proposition—that is, these human compositions
are excluded, not because they are expressly
prohibited, not even because they are
not inspired, but because they are not prescribed
or appointed by "the will of God."
Indeed a fair construction of the Declaration
would warrant the xoncltision that no
other songs, whether inspired or uninspired,
besides those contained in the Book of
Psalms are to be "sung in His worship both
public and private to the end of the world,"
and this has been the practical position of
our Church in both its branches because it
is the logical position. The one hundred and
fifty psalms are to be used, not because they
are inspired, but because they are "contained
in the Book of Psalms" by divine authority.
The inspiration and appointment belongs
to the book as well as to the individual psalms
contained in it. It is God's Psalm-Book or
Manual of iPraise whidh He has provided and
given to the Church which, like every other
book of the Bible and like the Bible itself, is
perfect—"to w*hich nothing is to be added and
from which nothing is to be taken."
The strength of our position lies in the
phrase, "it is the will of God," rendering our
use of the Book of Psalms an act of obedience,
which is the essential element of all acceptable
worship. Here it is that the other
Presbyterian Churches in the country have
abandoned the reformation principle embodied
in the Confession of Faith, "That what is not
commanded is forbidden in the worship of
God," and have substituted riberty for authority,
so that while acknowledging that the
Psalms were given by God "to be sung, not
read," and even recommending their use, yet
have claimed a liberty to use other scriptural
songs "for the purpose of impulse and instruction
in the way of life for the comfort of believers,"
and the consequence has been the
introduction of human composition, not only
along with the psalms, but to the almost entire
exclusion of the psalms from the praise
worship of the Church.
CHRISTIANIZING THE UNITED
STATES.
The report of the Home Mission Committee
of the Western Section of the Alliance of the
Reformed Churches throughout the world
holding the Presbyterian System, meeting in
Easton, Pa., last February, began with this
paragraph:
"The entire Christianization of North America
is the greatest enterprise confronting
the Churches of the whole world,'' said W. T.
Ellis, after an investigation touching the IMissionary
Status of the world. This coincides
with the statement of Dr. Josiah Strong: "He
does most to Christianize the world and to
hasten the coming of the kingdom-, who does
most to make thoroughly Christian the United
States." At the Southern Baptist Convention
in Baltimore, as Rev. F. B. Meyer stepped
from the platform, a reporter of the daily papers
asked: "Mr. Meyer, you 'nave just traveled
around the world studying Foreign I\Iissions;
tell what, in your view, is the greatest
mission field in the world'' Quick as a flash
came the reply: "The United States; because
here you have all nationalities of the world
centred."
As the United States seems to be stirring
up and leading' the aspirations of the world
in many things, it is a strategic country to be
taken and held in the .coming of the kingdom.
Our 'failure to Christianize the United States,
a failure admitted in every quotation of this
notable paragraph, is one of the great hindrances
ever}' missionary has to meet in foreign
lands. We have freedom- without Christ
being admitted as the source of it, wealth
without 'Christ beinig admitted as the strength
of it, enterprise without Christ being admitted
as the mainspring of it, success without
Christ being admitted as the reason for it.
Other peoples who seek freedom, wealjh, power,
enterprise and success, are not led by the
United States to look to Christ for these,
though all of them come to us from him.
If the United States were so thoroughly
Christianized that Christ was recognized as
the nation's King, and this unmustakably in
the supreme law of the land, then all this
would be changed. All the great results attained
in this country, or so far attained as
to attract the attention of other lands, would
be ascribed, as they should be, to his Law, 'his
Gospel and his Providence. The Redeemer
would then be known and honored all over
the world, as he never can be while this acknowledgment
is withheld.
The work of national reformation, or perhaps
one might better say, national regeneration,
to which the Covenanter Church is caUed
by her distinctive principles, should be
clearly recgnized in this condition of afifairs.
The Church of Christ in the United States is
making considerable efifort to evangelize the
people of this land, but is making little headway.
Great revivals, however successful in
appearance, leave things in general about as
they were before. One of the great obstacles
in the way of the Christianizing of the
United States is the ungodly character of our
political life. This ungodliness lies back of
every public evil and hinders any change for