Presbyterian church has always held it, does not constitute the pastor, elders, or congregation, judges of the actual conversion of the applicant ; but, on the contrary, lays much responsibility upon the applicant himself. The minister and kirk session must be satisfied as to his competent knowledge, credible profession, and consistent walk. They must determine negatively that there is no reason for pronouncing him not to be a Christian, but they do not undertake the responsibility of positively judging of his conversion. This is the Presbyterian rule of discipline, be it right or wrong, differing materially from that of the Congrega- tionalists. In practice there is room for much dealing with the conscience under either rule, and persons destitute of knowledge and of a credible profession are excluded."
APPENDICES.
A.
I. The Apostles' Creed, so called, "but known to have assumed its present form only gradually. It has, however, been in sub- stantially its present form the creed of the whole Christian church ever since the close of the second century. The clauses which were the latest added to the creed are, " he descended into hell," " the communion of saints," and " the life everlasting." See Mosheim, Cen. I., Part II., Chap. III. ; Bingham's Christ. Ant., Book X., Chapter III.
I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth ; and in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord ; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost ; born of the Virgin Mary ; suf- fered under Pontius Pilate ; was crucified, dead and buried : he descended into hell ; the third day he rose again from the dead, he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty ; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy cath- olic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
II. The Nicene Creed, as it was actually enacted by the Council of Nice, A. D. 325.
We believe in one God the Father almighty, the maker of all things, visible and invisible ; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father ; only begotten, (that is,) of the substance of the Father ; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God ; begotten, not made ; of the same sub-
k
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stance with, the Father ; by whom all things were made, that are in heaven and that are in earth ; who for us men, and for our salvation, descended, and was incarnate, and became man ; suffered, and rose again the third day ; ascended into the heavens, and will come to judge the living and the dead : and in the Holy Spirit. But those who say, that there was a time when he was not, and that he was not before he was begotten, and that he was made out of nothing, or affirm that he is of any other substance or essence, or that the Son of God is created, and mutable or changeable, the Catholic church doth pronounce accursed.
III. The creed set forth by the Council of Constantinople, called by Theodosius the Great, A. D. 381, and the second oecu- menical council. This is the creed used in the Catholic, Lu- theran, and English churches, and erroneously styled the Nicene Creed, a true version of which I have given above, from which this Constantinopolitan creed differs chiefly in being much more full and definite in the article concerning the Holy Ghost. It was for the purpose of condemning errors concerning the person- ality and divinity of the third Person of the Trinity, which had prominently emerged since the Council of Nice, that the Council of Constantinople enacted these additional definitive clauses. — Mosheim, Cen. IV., Part II., Chap. V.
I believe in one God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible ; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds ; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father ; by whom all things were made ; who for us men, and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified, also for us, under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried ; and the third day he rose again according to the Scrip- tures ; and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead ; whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who pro- ceedeth from the Father and the Son (this phrase " filioque" was added to the creed of Constantinople by the council of the western
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