THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
in 1892, which passed a Declaratory Act that was substantially the same. In 1894, to remove objections made by the Highlanders, the Free-church assembly passed a supplementary act by which it was left open to office-bearers to take the Confession either with the Declaratory Act or in its original and unmodified form. The Church of Scotland, in 1889 and 1890, also modified the rigor of subscription by going back to the formularies of subscription enjoined prior to that imposed by the General Assembly of 1711; and on the union of the Free and United Presbyterian Churches into the United Free Church in 1900, the Declaratory Acts of both uniting bodies were approved. The English Presbyterian Church, through its synod in 1890, adopted twenty-four Articles of the Faith, this result being reached after the attempt to prepare a Declaratory Statement had been abandoned. To the Articles of the Faith was subsequently added an “‘ Appendix ”’ of six chapters, taking up matters which do “ not enter into the substance of the faith,” these being questions of polity, worship, and administration. In 1892 the Synod decided that acceptance of the Westminster standards by office-bearers should be modified by reference to the twenty-four Articles of the Faith, the aim in the preparation of which was, while retaining the essential features of Calvinistic doctrine, to lay the emphasis on the love of God in his Gospel.
In America Congregational Churches, through the Cambridge Synod and Platform of 1648, declared that the synod “‘ had perused and considered with much gladness of heart and thankfulness to God the Confession of Faith published of late by the Reverend Assembly in England, and do judge it to be very holy, orthodox, and judicious in all matters of faith, and do therefore freely and fully consent thereunto, for the substance thereof,”’ with the exception of matters of church “ government and discipline ’’ as set forth later on in the platform itself. In general these changes were in accord with the amendments made by the Savoy Declaration
to the disciplinary sections of the Con-
4. History fession. The American Presbyterian in America. Churches early adopted the Confession
and the Westminster Catechisms. The Synod of Philadelphia, in its Adopting Act of Sept. 19, 1729, formally approved these standards by demanding the acceptance of them, either by subscription or by verbal declaration, “ as being, in all essential and necessary articles, good forms of sound words and systems of Christian doctrine, and do also adopt the said Confession and Catechisms as the confession of our faith.’’ In case a candidate had scruples about articles that the synod might regard as unessential, they were not to be a bar to his acceptance, and the same friendship and brotherly love were to be extended to such persons as if they had expressed no differences. This action was the result of a compromise between the Presbyterians of New England antecedents led by Jonathan Dickinson (q.v.), and those of Scotch-Irish antecedents, the latter demanding strict subscription. In 1736, the synod, returning to the subject, affirmed the acceptance of “ the good old doctrines tontained in the Confession without the least varia-
tion or alteration,” except in chapters xx. and xxiii., which bear on the authority of the civil magistrate, since the new American Constitution here required some modifications; ‘and the General Assembly, at its first session in 1789, approved a revision of articles xx., xxiii., and xxxi., and a small amendment in the Larger Catechism, while it also prefixed to the Form of Government a preamble in which the rights of conscience in religious matters were pronounced universal and inalienable, and declared that all religious constitutions should have equal protection from the law. The assembly laid upon ministers the duty “ of adopting the confession as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Scriptures, and their approval of the government and discipline of the Presbyterian Church in these United States.” The reunion of the two branches of the Presbyterian Church, the Old School and the New School, in 1869 was upon the basis of the Confession and other standards of the Church as interpreted in their historic sense. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church modified the Confession and Catechisms in 1814, especially in the statement of the decree of predestination, and again subjected them to revision in 1883. The incorporation of a large part of the Cumberland body in the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America in 1906 was on the basis of the acceptance of the Confession as then authoritatively held by the mother body. A movement toward revision of the Confession failed in 1889-98, but a second movement was successful, resulting in the Revision of 1903, by which chapters xxxiv. and xxxv. on the Holy Spirit, and the Love of God and Missions were added, as well asa Declaratory Statement of 250 words which modifies chapter iii. concerning the decrees of God, and declares that ‘‘ Christ’s propitiation was for the sins of the whole world,” and that God is ready to bestow saving grace on all who seek it. With reference to chapter x. it also declares that all infants dying in infancy are included in the election of grace. Changes were likewise introduced with regard to the nature of the works of the unregenerate (chap. xvi. 7), in regard to oaths (xxii. 3), and in the wording of chapter xxv. in regard to Christ’s sole headship over the Church. Here the epithet applied to the pope—“ that man of sin ’’—was struck out. In 1887, the clause (chap. xxiv. 4) forbidding marriage with a deceased wife’s sister had been struck out. The Presbyterian Church of the United States, commonly called the Southern Presbyterian Church, is now engaged in making a small number of changes.
Il. The Westminster Catechisms: The Westminster Catechisms are two in number: a large Catechism for ministers, to be explained from the pulpit according to the custom then prevailing in the Reformed churches on the Continent; and a short Catechism, for the instruction of children. Both were presented to parliament for examination and approval in the autumn of 1647, and were printed under the title The Humble Advice of the Assembly of Divines now by authority of Parliament sitting at Westminster, concerning a Larger (Shorter) Catechism, etc. Parliament approved the books, with slight exceptions, Sept. 15, 1648; the Scotch Kirk
827 RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA Westminster Standards
adopted them in July, 1648, and again (after a temporary repeal under Charles II.) in 1690. In its acts approving the Catechism, the
1. History Scotch Assembly declared the Larger
and (July 2, 1648) to be “a directory for
Character. catechizing such as have made some
proficiency in the knowledge of the grounds of religion,” and the Shorter (July 28, 1648) “to be a directory for catechizing such as are of weaker capacity,” both being adopted as “ being agreeable to the Word of God, and in nothing contrary to the received doctrine, worship, discipline, and government of this kirk.” Anthony Tuckney (q.v.) had the chief share in framing the Larger Catechism, and Wallis, the mathematician, in giving the Shorter Catechism its severely logical finish. Both Catechisms contain an exposition of the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer, and an independent statement of the Christian system of doctrine after the Calvinistic type. The Apostles’ Creed is not, as in other Catechisms, made the basis of the doctrinal expositions, but is appended “ because it is a brief sum of the Christian faith, agreeable to the word of God, and anciently received in the churches of Christ.”
The Shorter Catechism has often been regarded as the ripest product of Puritan experience and theological thought. It closed the period of greatest catechetical fertility in England, when Puritan divines for a quarter of a century had been issuing catechetical manuals, as many as twelve or perhaps fourteen such divines, including Samuel Rutherford and Herbert Palmer (qq.v.), having sat in the
Westminster Assembly. Of some of
2. The these catechisms there are direct traces Shorter that use was made, the most influential Catechism. perhaps being the Chief Grounds of Christian Religion set down by the way
of Catechizing by Ezekiel Rogers, written before 1638, the date when the author emigrated to America. Back of this series of catechisms were John Craig’s (q.v.) Scotch Catechism, and, more especially, Calvin’s Catechism, whose first question determined the content of the first question and answer of the Shorter Catechism. The Shorter Catechism is, with Luther’s Small Catechism and the Heidelberg Catechism, the most extensively used catechism in Protestant Christendom. It exceeds all other catechisms by the terse brevity and precision of the questions and answers, and differs from most by the following peculiarities: (1) it embodies the question in the answer, so as to make this a complete proposition or statement; (2) it substitutes a new and logical order of topics for the old historic order of the Apostles’ Creed; (3) it deals in dogmas rather than facts, and addresses the intellect rather than the heart; (4) it puts the questions in an impersonal form, instead of addressing the learner directly; (5) and to this may be added the theological and metaphysical character of the answers. No ecclesiastical attempt has been made to revise the Westminster Shorter Catechism. In 1908 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (North) appointed a committee to prepare a catechism ‘to be used for home instruction and in the Sabbath-schools, and to be simpler in lan-
guage than the Shorter Catechism,” but it was distinctly stipulated that it should not be “one of the standards of the Church.” Puitip Scoarrt. D. 8. ScHarr. Brsitioarapuy: As sources consult: A. F. Mitchell and J. Struthers, Minutes of the Sessions of the Westminster Assembly of Divines . . . (Nov., 1644 to March, 1649), London, 1874; J. Lightfoot, Journal of the Proceedings of the Assembly of Divines, from January 1, 1643, to December 31, 1644, in Whole Works, ed. J. R. Pitman, vol. xiii. 1— 344, ib. 1825; G. Gillespie, Notes of Debates and Proceedings of the Assembly of Divines and other Commissioners at Westminster, from Feb. 1644 to Jan. 1645, Edinburgh, 1846, cf. idem, Aaron’s Rod Blossoming, London, 1646, Edinburgh, 1843; Jowrnals of the house of lords and the house of commons from 1643 to 1649; State Calendars (James I., Charles I., Commonwealth, Charles II.), London, 1857 sqq.; W. Camden, The Annals ... of King James I., viz. from the Year 1603 to... 1623, in W. Kennet, The Complete History of England, ii., ib. 1706; Acts and Proceedings of the General Assemblies of the Kirk of Scotland . . . 1860-1618, ed. T. Thomson, 3 vols., Edinburgh, 1839-45; B. Whitelocke, Memorials of the English Affairs ... from the Beginning of the Reign of Charles the First to Charles the Second, London, 1732; BE. Sawyer, Memorials of Affairs of State . . . Collected (chiefly) from the ... Papers of ... Sir R. Winwood, 3 vols., fol., ib. 1725; W. Laud, Diary, in vol. i. of Remains, ib. 1695, also in Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology, iii., 7 vols., Oxford, 1847-60; Mrs. L. Hutchinson, Memoirs of Colonel Hutchinson, with ...a Summary Review of Public Affairs, 7th ed., London, 1848; J. Rushworth; Historical Collections ... from 1616 to 1648, 8 vols. fol., ib. 1721; E. Cardwell, Documentary Annals of the Reformed Church of England . . . from the Year 1646, to the Year 1716, 2 vols., Oxford, 1839; R. Baillie, Letters and Journals, ed. D. Laing, 3 vols., Edinburgh, 1841-43; A. F. Mitchell and J. Christie, Records of the Commissions of the General Assemblies of the Church of Scotland, 2 vols., ib. 1892-96 (covers the years 1646 to 1649); A. Peterkin, Records of the Kirk of Scotland, containing the Acts and Proceedings of the General Assemblies . . . with Notes, etc., ib. 1838.
On the history consult: T. Fuller, The Church History of Britain, from the Birth of Christ until the Year 1648, London, 1655, new ed., vols. v.—vi., Oxford, 1845; R. Baxter, Narrative of his Life and Times, published as Reliquie Baxteriane, 1 vol. fol., London, 1696, an abridgment appearing later, ib. 1702, 2 vols., ib. 1713, and also found in his Practical Works, 23 vols., ib. 1830; E. Hyde (Clarendon), The History of the Rebellion, 3 vols. fol., Oxford, 1702-04, new ed., 7 vols., ib. 1849; D. Neal, History of the Puritans, or Protestant Nonconformists, from ... 1617 to... 1688, 4 vols., London, 1732-38, new ed.; 2 vols., New York, 1858; J. Reid, Memoirs of the Lives and Writings of those Eminent Divines who Convened in the Famous Assembly at Westminster, 2 vols., Paisley, 1811-15; W. M. Engles, A History of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, Embracing an Account of its Principal Transactions and Biographical Sketches of its most Conspicuous Members, Philadelphia, 1841; T. Carlyle, Life and Letters of Cromwell, 2 vols., London and New York, 1845; H. Hallam, Constitutional History of England, chap. vii.—xi., 5th ed., 2 vols., London, 1846; J. B. Marsden, The History of the Early Puritans, from the Reformation to . . . 1642, ib. 1850; idem, The History of the Later Puritans, from .. . the Civil War in 1642 to... 1662, ib. 1852; J. Stoughton, Spiritual Heroes; or, Sketches of the Puritans, chap. vi., pp. 120 sqq., ib. 1850; idem, Church and State Two Hundred Years Ago. A History of Ecclesiastical Affairs in England from 1660 to 1663, ib. 1862; idem, Ecclesiastical History of England, 5 vols., ib. 1867-75; S. Hopkins, The Puritans during the Reigns of Edward VI. and Queen Elizabeth, 3 vols., Boston, 1859— 1861; J. Tulloch, English Puritanism and its Leaders: Cromwell, Milton, Baxter, Bunyan, London, 1861; A. F. Mitchell, The Westminster Confession of Faith: a Contribution to the Study of its Historical Relations and to the Defence of its Teaching, 3d ed., Edinburgh, 1867, cf. his introduction to Minutes . . . of the Westminster Assembly, ut sup.; idem, The Westminster Assembly, its History and Standards, London, 1883, 2d ed., Philadelphia, 1897; idem, Catechisms of the Second Reformation: The Shorter