But even where this spirit, foreign to the genius of the Church, had acquired the most commanding influ- ence, the traditional hal>it of thought and life was not extinct. The conditions of a strong counter reaction ■were always present. It was onl}' necessary that some one assert clearh' and forcibly the latent faith of the Church. This was done with great power by the Rev. John W. Nevin, D.D., several j-ears after he had become, in 18-40, professor of didactic theology in the seminaiy at Mercersburg.
For nearl}' twenty j'ears the tendency to surrender her distinctive faith and customs had been gaining strength in the German Reformed Church, slowh- in- deed, but steadily, and the process of assimilation to a foreign form of Christian life was silently going for- ward. A powerful counteracting element, however, was develojied as earlv as 1836 in the profound Anglo- German philosophy taught b}' the Rev. Frederick Au- gustus Ranch, D.P., the first president of Jlarshall College, who laid the foundation of the system of or- ganic and objective tliinking ■which has ever since characterized the leading educational institutions of the Church. There was accordingly at hand both a general and special preparation for the great Church movement of the last twenty-five years, of which Dr. Nevin has been the principal organ : general, in the slumbering spirit of the Heidelberg Catechism, ■which, living in the hearts of ministers and ])eople, perpetua- ted a sense of dissatisfaction with a foreign religious habit, and constituted a general qualification to sup- port, as bj' intuition, the protest against error, and the affirmation of fundamental truth pronounced by a great leader ; and special, in the genetic method of thought which, in full sjmpathy with the spirit of the Catechism, had, through the teaching of Dr. Ranch, given character to the college, and moulded the philo- sophical thinking of the first ministers of the Church, who received a full literary and theological training in her own institutions.
This profound and comprehensive movement consti- tutes the leading characteristic of the Church in the last period of her American historj'. The bold criti- cisms of Protestantism, and the unequivocal reasser- tion of the catholic truth contained in the Protestant confessions of the IGth century by Dr. Nevin, and the publication of the rrinciple of Protistanlism by the Rev. Philip Schaft', D.D., in German and English, called forth earnest and sometimes very violent rejoin- ders from religious papers and quarterly reviews, and provoked a series of controversies concerning the new- measure system, the Lord's Supper, tradition and the rule of faith, the nature of the Church, the present at- titude of Protestantism and its relation to Roman Ca- tholicism, the person of Christ, the nature of Christi- anity, and, in the course of time, holy baptism and liturgical worship, with many other cognate funda- mental doctrines ; controversies which have been pros- ecuted vigorously, with short intervals of repose, down
GERMAN REF. CH. IN AMERICA 827 GERMAN REF. CH. IN AMERICA
to the present time, and have not only involved some of tlie principal denominations in this country, but of late have also extended to Germany.
The main positions, both negative and positive, af- firmed by Dr. Nevin and his coadjutors, have from time to time been sustained by the Eastern Synod and by the General Synod, sometimes bj' direct and formal action, but generally in an indirect way, since the main questions have oul}' occasionally been at issue before the judicatories in a formal manner. Indeed, instead of being merely the innovation of a party, the great movement has been only a life movement of the German Reformed Church herself, the men promi- nent in the controversies being rather the exponents and organs than leaders. Yet a portion of the Church has all along been opposing the prevailing theological views. The opposition has generally been conducted ■with moderation and sobriety, but sometimes it has been violent and disordevh', and has even indicated an inclination towards schism. Another effect of the controversies and of the theological attitude of the Church has been to provoke a large measure of oppo- sition from some of the principal Protestant denomi- nations. A disposition even shows itself to maintain that the German Refonncd Church is no longer true to her origin and history as a branch of the Protestant Church.
Soon after the controversies began the Mercersburg JtevkiD was established, in order to serve as a medium for the development, defence, and progress of what came to be known among opponents as Mercersburg Philosophj' and Theology. It was issued regularh' from 18i9 until 1861 inclusive. Suspended during the progress of the Civil War, it was resumed in January, 1867.
In 1820 the ministers and churches in Ohio organ- ized themselves by the authorit}' of synod into a class- is, called the Classis of Oliio ; but it stood in organic relation to synod onlj^ during the short period of four j'ears. In 1S2-I; it became an independent body, and assumed the title of the Synod of 01 do, having 11 min- isters, 80 congregations, and 2500 members. In 1837 the Synod of Ohio became the Synod of Ohio and Adja- cent States. In 1812 this synod subdivided its terri- tory into six classes. Thus there came to exist two mutually independent sj'nods, having tlie same organ- ization, holding the same faith, governed \)y the same constitution, having the same usages and customs, and each one possessing supreme and final authority with- in its own bounds. The two bodies exchanged dele- gates annually, the delegate being admitted as a full member of the body to which he was commissioned. A sense of dissatisfaction with this incomplete and anoma- lous organization began to prevail, and a strong desire became general, both East and "West, to effect a more perfect organization 1iy creating a higher body that should have jurisdiction over the whole Church. The constitution was accordinglj' so changed bj^ a vote of two thirds of all the classes of each sjaiod as to make room for the organization of a triennial General Sj'nod. This body, composed of delegates, ministers and el- ders, chosen by all the classes, represents the whole Church. It is the highest judicatory, and " the last resort in all cases respecting the government of the Church not finally adjudicated by the synod." The General Synod held its first session in Pittsburg in November, 1863.