VOLUME 2, NUMBER 2 - opc.org

1 TMEPRESBYTERIAN(0 NSTITUTIONAL(OVENANTUNiON ~.r0oooooo ooApril ,NUMBER2 APrayerofJeremyTayloroeternalGod,sanctif y mybodyand soul. mythoughtsand my intentions. my words and actions,thatwhatsoever I shall think, or speak, or do, mayb~by medesignedfor the glorification of Thy , by Thy blessing, it may beeffectiveandsuccessful in the work ofGod,accordingas it , turn my necessities into virtue;theworksofnatureinto the works ofgrace;bymaking them orderly, regular,temperate;and letno pride or self-seeking, no covetousness orrevenge,no little ends and low imaginations. pollute myspirit, and unhallow any of my words and actions;but let mybodybe aservantof my spirit, and bothbodyand spirit servants of Jesus;that,doing allthings for Thy glory here, I may bepartakerof Thygloryhereafter,throughJesus Christ ~ "Thegrasswithereth,theflowerfadeth:but thewordofour God shallstandforever.))

2 " WeSchismatics?WH E NoughtChristianpeopletowithdrawfromachur chwithwhichtheyhavebeenconnectedandseekt oleadotherpeopletowithdrawwiththem?Dr. MachenThatiscertainlyatimely questionjustnow. Agoodmanypeopleareearnestlyconsideringit lie ' fthePermanentJudicialCommis-siondeclares themandateofthe1934and1935 Assembliesto be ,andiftheGeneralAssembly,sittingas acourt,confirmsthisdecision, , thePresbyterianChurchin EverySeparationSchismatic?Thatquestionis a ,IagreewiththosewhodenouncetheCovenantUn ion,andwhodenouncethepledge,lookingtosep arationintheeventthateffortsofreformfail ,whichthe"covenant" such a sin asthesin ofschism,Ithinktheyinturnoughttoagreewit hmewhenI maintain,ontheotherhand,thatby nomeanseveryseparationfromanexistingchur chorganizationis thesin beseriouslyheldbyanyonethateveryseparati onissinfulschism?

3 Well,thatcouldbeheldby aRomanCatholic,butI donotforthelifeofme seehowitcanbeheldby do if we hold, asmanypersonsseem toholdtoday,that"split-tingthechurch" ,ifwearenotgoingtoabandonProtestantisman duniteourselveswiththeRomanCatholicChurc h, Example of the ReformationWhendoessucha time forsepar-ationcome? at atimewhentheexistingchurchorganizationce asestoheedtheWordof to ,indeed, ,then,istheprincipleofthething-itisschis mtoleaveachurchifthatchurchistruetotheBi ble,butit is ,farfromitsbeingschismtoseparatefromthec hurchinquestion,it isschismtoremainin it, Our Present Duty?Itisthelattercasewhichwillpre-vail thePermanentJudicialCom-missionattheendo fnextmonthandisthenconfirmedby theGeneralAs-semblysittingas acourt,someearn-est people,atverygreatsacrificeofworldlygood sandwithbleedinghearts, willtell ,iftheydidnotdepartfromtheexistingchurch organiza-tion, aplainlyapostatechurch, THE"MANDATE"ISDECLAREDUNCONSTITUTIONALMU CH has been said inrecentweeks of thedutiesthatwill devolveuponChristianmen inthePres-byterianChurchin and when thenextAssemblyeitherexplicitlyor in effect affirms the so-called"mandate"of ,wesincerelybelieve, will, if taken,putthewordof man above theWordof thechurchwill havetaken,officially, ,we hold, will obligeconsistentChristianmenandwomen toseparatefromtheoutwardorgani-zationino rdertocontinuethetruelifeandsoul of.

4 Sittingas acourt,does notputman'swordaboveGod'sin any ofthe waysthatare open toit?Whatwould be thedutyofChristianmenandwomenthen?.Webel ievethat,in the first place,trueChristiansshouldthenthankandpr aiseGod onewantsachurchto sin, , we will beprofoundlythankfulto not meanthatthebattleforthefaithwouldthenbe over,thatall would be hence-forthwell in ,andModernism,alliedwithan officialbureaucracy,is at thecomingAssemblywould cause us only the firstof many stepsthatwould have to betakenbeforethechurchcould of thosesteps?TheBoardsof thechurch,whichhavefiguredlargelyin thediscussionsof the last few years, would need tobe theBoardsis theconditionof ,which hassteadilyincreasedfor ageneration,wouldhave to bebroken,and themachineryof thechurchplaced in thehandsof those who love thechurch' onethinkthatthis could beaccomplished,if at all,withouta grimand notsurrenderuponthe do not mean to limitwhattheHolySpiritmight ,however,worthyof notethatin thepastone ofHisgreatactivitieshas been to give weak,sinfulmencouragetostandup ,then,would have to be faced ,notmerelyin high places,butin"low"places aswell-inpresbyteries,sessions, us all, we would have to begin aneraofheresytrialsresolutelyandsolemnly carriedthroughfromstartto ofreformis onlyso much idle wind, we would.

5 Realreformwould involve acleansingof thewholefabricof ,therewould have to berevealedanhithertonon-vocalevan-gelica lmajorityin bythishypotheticalandnot-yet-apparentmaj oritywithoutthedivineempowermentandgraci ouspresenceof the blessedHolySpiritof ,it seems to us, by thepresentationto thechurchof who willadheretotheminthiseffortshouldengage in anationwideattempttorestorethe lostpurityof thechurch' ,sofaras ishumanlypos-sible, of the ,back tounwaveringloyaltytoGod'sWordastrueand would have to "no"toreform,in suchfashionas todemonstratethatreasonablehope ofpuri-fication wasimpossible,trueChristianmenandwomenwo uld, we believe, to anindefinitecontinuationof theunnaturalunionbetweenbeliefandunbelie fthatprevailsin thechurch,andto allthatinevi-tablyaccompaniessuch aunion?May God havemercyon us, if we are so blind to thehonorofChristandthewelfare of souls nowlivingandunborn!

6 Ourduty, then, is tocontendearnestlywhere Godhasputus, unlessanduntilthechurchhas, ineitheroneof the two waysdescribed, ,a day ofseparationwill have betragicbecauseofbrokenearthlyties, andtriumphant,becauseforthe believertherewill be , :ONNovember18, 1935, theBoardofForeignMissionstookactionwhich waspublishedinThePresby-terianofNovember 28, 1935,relativeto myReporton ,theBoardas awholewentbeyondthepre-vious"Comment"whi chhadbeenpub-lishedinthesamemagazineon Novem-ber21,andgavecer-taindefiniteassur -ancetothechurch,thattheBoardwouldmakepu blicafurtherreportontheconditionspointed outby me in (ThePresbyterian,N ovem-ber21,page8)Istated:"Iregret exceedingly that the Execu-tive Council fails to sense fully orignores the picture I have paintedant.'gives its attention to one or two brushstrokes.

7 It must be understoodthatmypurposehas not been to pick out a fewcases of unbelief among our missionarieswith the thought of having thembe-headed, butratherto show the existenceof a situation about which the controllingpersonnel possessed knowledge and didnot seem to be acting decisively in linewith thatknowledge."LateinFebruary,1936, , asfollows:" ,N. Y." :"Iwanttothankyouforyourlet-terofFebruar y24thinwhichyousay1.'In the weeks since our first con-ference with you here in the rooms wehave been making the inquiries whichwere natural to make regarding the in-stances given in your report and we nowhave material from each of them re-garding which we would like to conferwith you' and2.'Thatthe Policy and Methods Com-mittee of the Board voted an instructionto us to invite you to a conference dur-ing the week beginning March 8th,' etc.

8 " awholetotakeheartratherthanto gobacktothatpointwherethe'Comment'madeby theExecutiveCounciloftheBoardofForeignMi s-sionsuponmyreportwouldhaveleftthispara mountandvitalissue."Ihadimaginedthatthen extmeet-ingoftheBoardwouldbe of alargerscopethanyourletterindicates,as Ireadwithagreatdealofappreciationandsinc erehopefulnesstheresolu-tionoftheBoardof ForeignMis-sionspassedby itsubsequenttothe'Comment'madeuponmyrepo rtbyyourExecutiveCouncil,whichwasasfollo ws:'BEITTHEREFORERESOLVED that the Board of Foreign Missions ex-presses to Dr. Barnhouse its apprecia-tion of his efforts and consideration, andthat the Board ofForeignMissions againassures the Churchwhichit representsthat it 'is and ever has been the constantaim of the Board of Foreign Missionsto prosecute its work in fidelity andloyalty to the purposes of missionaryendeavor as set forth in theWordofGod and the standards of the Presby-terian Church, , andfurtherthatwe assure the church that the specialcases cited in the report of Dr.

9 Barn-house which seemed to him to be atvariance with theWordof God andour standards, are receiving and will re-ceive our immediate and serious atten-tion with a view to eitherjustifyingorrectifying the conditions cited and thatthe results obtained from the inquiry willbe reported to the church.'"Ihavealreadygivenyouin myreportandinconversationswhatinmyopinio nwasaclear,conciseandimpartialdescriptio noftheatmos-pheresurroundingandthecommon reputeinwhichthevariousmissionsvisitedby mewerelocallyregarded,togetherwiththatwh ichIknowtohavebeenthesayings,opinionsoro therexpressionsofthoseinter-viewedby ab-senceoffrankrecognitionoftheprobablea ccuracyofsuchexpressionswhichmypersonale ffortswouldpre-sumptivelyjustifytheirrec eiving,whichis wellillustratedbythatstate-mentoftheBoar dofficialwhowrotethe'Comment'uponmyrepor tabovereferredto, totheeffectthatthe'Chinesegentlemen'ment ionedin myreportare'devoted,earnest,evan-gelical Christiangentlemen,'andsowroteinthefaceo fthestenographictestimonywhichIsuppliedt hatthemeninquestionheldradicalanti-Chris tianbeliefs,andIfurthersaidin my'Remarks'(publishedinThePresbyterianon November21, 1935)

10 Upontheaforesaid'Comment'oftheExecutiveC ouncil,namely:'I regret exceedingly that the Execu-tive Council fails to sense fully orignores thepictureI have painted andgives its attention to one or two brushstrokes. It must be understood that mypurpose has not been topickout a fewcases of unbelief among our missionarieswith the thought of having them be-headed, butratherto show the existenceof a situation aboutwhichthe controll-ing personnel possessed knowledge anddid not seem to be acting decisively inline with that knowledge.'"Idonotfeel Ishouldacceptyourinvitationifthepurposeo fthemeet-ingis to belimitedsolelytothecon-siderationofthem aterialwhichyouhavereceivedfromeachofthe per-sonsconcernedunlessyoucan,hav-ingthe foregoingbeforeyou,pointoutorsuggestto me to do in ,nothingwhichanyofthesemenmightwritewoul din myopinionjus-tifytheBoardofForeignMissio nsinpermittingtheconditionscitedtocontin ue.