USA > New York > A history of the purchase and settlement of western New York : and of the rise, progress and present state of the Presbyterian Church in that section > Part 28
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as may be agreed upon by the Assembly and the corresponding body." If this clause in the Constitution authorizes the Assembly, by compact with the General Association of Comecticut, to admit delegates from that body to a seat in the Assembly, we see not why it does not equally authorize them, by compact with the same body, to admit committee-men to seats in the Presbytery.
The General Assembly assert, in the exscinding resolution, that the Synods of Utica, Geneva, and Genesee were formed and at- tached to the General Assembly, under and in execution of the Plan of Union of 1801. These Synods were formed in just the same manner as every other Synod since the original organization of a General Assembly in the Presbyterian Church, that is, they were constituted by act of the General Assembly, detaching certain named Presbyteries from the Synod to which they belonged, and constituting them a new Synod, with definite boundaries. In the act of constitution, no allusion is made to any Plan of Union, nor to any other circumstance, except an application from the Synod divided. In 1812, the Synod of Albany was divided, and the General Assembly resolved, " That the Presbyteries of Onondaga, Cayuga, and Geneva. form the western division, and be constituted a Synod, to be called and known by the name of the Synod of Genesee, and that they hold their first meeting in the first Presby- terian church in Geneva, on the first Wednesday in October next, at eleven o'clock, A. M., and that the meeting be opened with a ser- mon by the Rev. David Higgins, and, in case of his absence, then by the oldest minister present." In compliance with this order of the Assembly, the Synod met at the time and place appointed, the meeting was opened in the manner directed in the order, and Mr. Higgins was elected the first moderator. In a similar manner the Synods of Utica and Genesee were constituted, the former being detached from the Synod of Albany, and the latter from the Synod of Geneva.
If inquiry is made, how the Presbyteries composing these Synods were constituted, the answer is at hand. The Presbytery of Oneida, from which they all originated, was constituted in 1802, in accor- dance with the order of the General Assembly, directing " That so much of the Presbytery of Albany as lies on the west side of the eastern line of the counties of Otsego and Herkimer, including the Rev. Messrs. Fish, Lindsley, Dodd, Lewis, and Mr. Chapman, late of the Presbytery of New York, and Mr. Snowden, late of the Presbytery of New Brunswick, be constituted a Presbytery by the name of The Presbytery of Oneida. The Presbytery of Geneva was the next in the order of origin. This Presbytery was consti- tuted in 1803, by an order of the Assembly, directing " That so much of the existing Presbytery of Oneida, as lies on the west side of the western line of the counties of Chenango and Oneida, including the Rev. Messrs. Jedidiah Chapman, John Lindsley,
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Samuel Leacock, and Jabez Chadwick, be constituted a Presbytery by the name of The Presbytery of Geneva." The Presbytery of Chenango was also constituted by an act of the General Assembly, because it was composed of members belonging to different Synods. In 1808, the Middle Association, as has already been narrated in chapter vii., was received as a constituent member of the Synod of Albany, with the full approbation of the General Assembly. From this Association and the Presbytery of Geneva, in 1810, were formed, by an act of the Synod of Albany, the Presbyteries of Geneva, Cayuga, and Onondaga, with territorial limits. All the other Presbyteries belonging to the two Synods of Western New York, were constituted with definite boundaries, as directed by the Constitution, by the action of the Synods to which the Presbyteries from which they were detached, belonged.
But it may be said that the churches, of which these Synods and Presbyteries were composed, were organized in accordance with the Plan of Union, and that committee-men held seats in these ecclesiastical bodies, and deliberated and voted with the other members, and, therefore, it may with propriety be said, that they were formed and attached to the General Assembly, under and in execution of said Plan of Union. Somewhere about the year 1805 or 1806, the first Presbyterian church of Geneseo (now the church of Lakeville), which was originally constituted a Presbyterian church, changed its form of government so far as to adopt that re- commended in the Plan of Union. The church, however, did not long continue on this plan. The Presbyterian and Congregational members were not harmonious, and after a short season the Con- gregational members were, by advice of the Presbytery, dismissed, and organized by themselves as a Congregational church. The other branch of the church reverted to their original order as a Presbyterian church. The writer has been informed that one or two other churches in Western New York were formed on this Plan of Union, and, perhaps, there may be a very small number, at the present time, on a plan of organization nearly resembling this, which are in connexion with a Presbytery. He has been a resident of Western New York from the period of 1801 down to the pre- sent time. During that period he has been engaged in the duties of the ministerial office, and is minutely acquainted with the ecclesiastical history of the region, and it is his firm belief that, at the time of the exscinding act in 1837, not more than one or two, if any, of the churches under the care of the Synods of Geneva and Genesee, were practising in accordance with the provisions of the Plan of Union of 1801. With regard to the state of things in the Synod of Utica, the writer is not informed, but supposes that it was very similar to that in the other Synods. The abrogation of the Plan of Union of 1801, by the Assembly of 1837, whether it was a wise measure or otherwise, could not possibly have any
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effect on the standing of the Synods of Western New York with the Presbyterian Church in the United States. They never were formed under this Plan, nor by virtue of it attached to the Presby- terian Church.
But it may be asked, " Is it possible that the General Assembly of 1837, a body so large, so learned, so wise and pious, in which the vene- rable Dr. Green, Dr. Alexander, and a host of others, were active spi- rits, could predicate, on such mistaken grounds, an act, by which three Synods, containing nineteen Presbyteries, three hundred and seventy- eight ministers, four hundred and forty-four churches, and, probably, forty thousand communicants, were ejected from their connexion with the Presbyterian Church ?" It is not only possible, but it is undoubtedly certain that this was the case. In the list of names voting in favor of the exscinding act, we find that of Dr. Green of Philadelphia, and many others of high standing in the Presbyterian Church, and of distinguish- ed excellence. These brethren and fathers, no doubt, honestly be- lieved that they were doing God service, and promoting the interests of the church of Christ in the world. The name of Dr. Alexander does not appear on the list of voters on the question. What part he took in the debate, or whether any, is not known to the writer.
The attentive reader who wishes to understand this subject, will, no doubt, desire to be informed of the circumstances of the churches in Western New York which led the Assembly of 1837 into the supposition that they were attached to the Presbyterian Church by virtue of the Plan of Union of 1801. The Oneida Presbytery, as has been stated, was, by act of the General Assembly, set off from the Presbytery of Albany. It was composed wholly of ministers and churches strictly Presbyterian. The same was the case with the Presbytery of Geneva, set off from the Presbytery of Oneida by the General Assembly. Up to the period of 1808, no church not strictly Presbyterian, in Western New York, was connected with any Presbytery, if we except the case of the church of Geneseo, before mentioned. In 1808, the Middle Association, as has been already related, became a constituent member of the Synod of Albany, by virtue of a compact with that Synod, ratified by the General Assembly. By this union a number of Congrega- tional churches became connected with the Presbyterian Church, with the right of being represented by a delegate in the meetings of Synod. This act of the Assembly, ratifying the compact between the Synod and the Association, was considered as establishing the principle that Congregational churches might become connected with the Presbyterian Church, and have a seat in its judicatories by a delegate, retaining the privilege of transacting their internal government by the vote of the majority of the brethren. On this principle the Presbyteries have acted. By the formation of these Presbyteries out of the Presbytery of Geneva and the Middle As- sociation, the majority of the churches in the Presbyteries of Onon-
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daga and Cayuga were probably Congregational. Those at that time connected with the Presbytery of Geneva were all of them strictly Presbyterian. After the dissolution of the Ontario Associa- tion, most of the churches which had been connected with that ecclesiastical body attached themselves to the Presbytery of Gene- va, on what was familiarly called " The Accommodating Plan." Many of the churches, however, which were originally Congrega- tional, adopted the Presbyterian form, and far the greater part of the new-formed churches were organized in accordance with the strict principles of the Presbyterian Church. All the churches connected with the Presbyteries acknowledged the supremacy of the Presbytery, made their regular reports, admitted an appeal from their decisions to the Presbytery, sent up their records annu- ally for review, and were represented in Presbytery by a delegate chosen for the purpose, who was entitled to the same privileges as a ruling elder. How large a proportion of the churches under the care of the Synods of Geneva and Genesee, were connected with the Presbyteries, on the Accommodating Plan, is not definitely known to the writer. It must, however, have been comparatively small. In the Presbyteries of Angelica and Chemung, all the churches were governed by a session of elders. The same may have been the case with one or two other Presbyteries. The Presbytery of Bath had under its care two churches practising on the Accommodating Plan ; the Presbytery of Geneva had one or two of the same description. Other Presbyteries had a larger number, and it may be that one or two Presbyteries had a major- ity of its churches of this description. If the connexion of these churches with the Synods of Utica, Geneva, and Genesee, demanded that they should be declared out of the ecclesiastical connexion of the Presbyterian Church, the same step ought to have been taken with the Synods of Albany, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Michigan, and, it is believed, some others, which were in the same predi- cament.
The General Assembly state, as a reason urging immediate ac- tion in passing the exscinding act, " the gross disorders which are ascertained to have prevailed in those Synods," meaning the Synods of Utica, Geneva, and Genesee. If by gross disorders, is meant that they received under their care churches which managed their internal concerns on the congregational plan, and admitted the dele- gates of these churches to sit in their judicature, and vote with the other members, it was nothing of new occurrence, nor respecting which the knowledge of the fact had just met the minds of the Assembly. It is hardly supposable that the Assembly refer to this circumstance when they speak of gross disorders. The commis- sioners from the exscinded Synods, in their protest against the act, give as one of their reasons of protest, "that there has been no definite or authentic evidence whatever, regularly before this As-
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sembly, of the existence, within the bounds of the said Synods, of those errors in doctrine, or those gross irregularities in practice, which they are alleged to be guilty of tolerating." In their answer to this protest, the Assembly say,-" The evidence of great errors in doctrine, and gross irregularities in practice, prevailing to an alarming extent within the bounds of said Synods, and, if not coun- tenanced, certainly unsuppressed by them, is before the church and the world." It is evident from these extracts from the Circular Letter of the General Assembly, published in their minutes for 1837, and from the debates in the Assembly, that by the " gross disorders," which, they say, are ascertained to have prevailed, they refer to the proceedings of certain evangelists and others, in exciting and conducting protracted meetings and revivals of religion. On this subject we have spoken largely, in a former chapter.
On " the great errors in doctrine," prevailing to an alarming extent, as is asserted, it may be proper to make some observations. It is not to be expected in this imperfect world that any consider- able number of Christians will entertain views precisely alike, on all subjects which relate to religious truth. All do not understand the teaching of the Scriptures alike; neither is there an entire agreement among Presbyterians, as to what is taught in the Con- fession of Faith and Catechisms of the Presbyterian Church. If perfect agreement in sentiment were essential to church fellowship, no church could exist upon earth. As there are shades of difference in the views of Christians respecting what is truth, so there are different opinions respecting what constitutes essential truth, or the truths in which it is essential that Christians should be agreed, in order to their composing one church. One person would denomi- nate a certain sentiment a " great error," while another, believing it an error, might however consider it of comparatively little con- sequence. Some Presbyterians of the old school would consider it as a great error, to maintain, that "impenitent sinners have any ability of any kind to do anything which God requires," or "that God may not, with perfect consistency, require the sinner to do, and pnnish him for not doing, all holy acts, when he has no ability of any kind to do them." Many of them, probably, consider it a great error to maintain,-that the atonement of Christ was made for any but the elect. What is meant by the assertion that great "errors in doctrine" prevailed to an alarming degree in the exscinded Synods, is somewhat vague. The Assembly must, however, be supposed to allude to the errors condemned by them at that meeting. Pre- vious to the meeting of the Assembly a Convention of ministers and elders was held at Philadelphia, professedly for the purpose of devising and submitting to the consideration of the next General Assembly remedies for existing evils. This convention submitted to the Assembly a document, which, on the minutes of the Assem- bly, is denominated a " Testimony and Memorial of the Convention
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in relation to errors and irregularities in the Presbyterian Church." That part of the memorial which related to doctrinal errors (with a few verbal alterations) was adopted by the Assembly. The errors condemned are the following, viz.
" 1. That God would have prevented the existence of sin in our world, but was not able without destroying the moral agency of man : or, that for aught that appears in the Bible to the contrary, sin is incidental to any wise moral system."
"2. That election to eternal life is founded on a foresight of faith and obedi- ence."
" 3. That we have no more to do with the first sin of Adam than with the sins of any other parent."
"4. That infants come into the world as free from moral defilement as was Adam when he was created."
"5. That infants sustain the same relation to the moral government of God in this world, as brute animals, and that their sufferings and death are to be ac- counted for on the same principle as those of brutes, and not by any means to be considered as penal."
"6. That there is no other original sin than the fact that all the posterity of Adam, though by nature innocent, or possessed of no moral character, will always begin to sin when they begin to exercise moral agency ; that original sin does not include a sinful bias of the human mind, and a just exposure to penal suffering ; and that there is no evidence in Scripture, that infants, in order to salvation, do need redemption by the blood of Christ, and regeneration by the Holy Ghost."
" 7. That the doctrine of imputation, whether of the guilt of Adam's sin, or of the righteousness of Christ, has no foundation in the Word of God, and is both unjust and absurd."
"8. That the sufferings and death of Christ were not truly vicarious and penal, but symbolieal, governmental, and instructive only."
"9. That the impenitent sinner is by nature, and independently of the re- newing influence or almighty energy of the Holy Spirit, in full possession of all the ability necessary to a full compliance with all the commands of God."
" 10. That Christ does not intercede for the elect until after their regenera- tion."
"11. That saving faith is not an effect of the special operation of the Holy. Spirit, but a mere rational belief of the truth, or assent to the Word of God."
" 12. That regeneration is the act of the sinner himself, and that it consists in a change of his governing purpose, which he himself must produce, and which is the result, not of any direet influence of the Holy Spirit on the heart, but chiefly of a persuasive exhibition of the truth, analogous to the influence which one man exerts over the mind of another; or that regeneration is not an instantaneous act, but a progressive work."
" 13. That God has done all that he can do for the salvation of all men, and that man himself must do the rest."
" 14. That God cannot exert such influence on the minds of men, as shall make it certain that they will choose and act in a particular manner without impairing their moral agency."
" 15. That the righteousness of Christ is not the sole ground of the sinner's acceptance with God; and that in no sense does the righteousness of Christ be- come ours."
" 16. That the reason why some differ from others in regard to their reception of the gospel, is that they make themselves to differ."
These propositions were condemned, as errors, more or less prevalent in the church. It was undoubtedly the intention of the
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Assembly to charge them upon the ministers and churches of Western New York. With respect to some of the sentiments embraced in these propositions, the writer has no consciousness that they have ever been advanced by any minister of the Presby- terian church in Western New York, or have had any prevalence in the churches. Some of them seem to be " propositions wholly of a metaphysical character," as the brethren who protested against the adoption of the memorial say, " and on points by no means clearly and positively settled, either in our standards or in the sacred Scriptures." At least, they are capable of an explanation not at variance with the Word of God. In their most natural sense, they are undoubtedly errors, and some of them, at least, errors of a very dangerous tendency, and which ought to be dis- countenanced by every judicatory of the church of Christ. That they were advanced, and that strenuous endeavors were used to propa- gate them in Western New York, is undoubtedly true. But, in general, it was by teachers over whom the Presbyteries had no control, and for whose teachings they were no more responsible than for the teachings of the Roman Catholic clergy who might itinerate among them ; or, if they were advanced by ministers who were members of the Presbyteries, it was under circumstances in which it would be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to make the discipline of the church to bear upon the offender. At sub- sequent periods, several of the ministers have either been deposed from the ministry for error, or been constrained to leave the Pres- byterian church.
The judicatories of the church in Western New York have repeatedly and strongly testified against error in doctrine, and in practice, which individuals among themselves, or foreigners from abroad, have attempted to introduce. The Synod of Geneva, in 1832, adopted the following Minute, viz. "On reviewing the history of the church for a few years past, the Synod recollect with gratitude the interest which has been manifested with regard to the character and work of the Holy Spirit. This subject early engaged the attention of Christians, both in Europe and America. It awakened feelings which were manifested in religious publica- tions, in public preaching, in prayer, and in conversation. The results, as the Synod believe, have been seen in the extensive and glorious revivals which have been lately experienced in the churches. As the necessary means of the same blessed results, the Synod earnestly recommend to all the ministers belonging to this body, in their public discourses, their studies, their closets, and their con- versation, so to acknowledge the Holy Spirit, as to give him the honor of being the efficient agent in the renewal and sanctification of the soul. They would also recommend to the churches an explicit and heart-felt acknowledgment of their dependence on the special influences of the Holy Spirit, in all their efforts to do
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good, and that they pray earnestly for these influences upon them- selves and others." The testimony of the Synod, in 1835, against the Central Evangelical Association, recorded on a preceding page, is strongly impressive of the high regard which they entertained for correctness in doctrine, as well as practice. In 1837, in refer- ence to the act of the Assembly declaring them not a part of the Presbyterian church, they say, "The errors and irregularities, alleged to have prevailed in this Synod, which appear to have had an influence in producing the act of excision, have never been countenanced by this Synod ; but, wherever they have been known to exist, have been solemnly disapproved, and, by every constitu- tional method, resisted and corrected." In 1841, in their pastoral letter, the Synod say, " We feel that we cannot too earnestly inculcate upon our churches the importance of maintaining invio- late the distinguishing doctrines of grace, which constitute the glory and value of the gospel, and which are so admirably epito- mized, for convenient reference and study, in our excellent Cate- chisms and Confession of Faith. Encourage, invite, yea, demand, brethren, that these God-exalting and man-humbling doctrines of the cross become a part of ministerial instruction. Hold fast to them, and hold to them sincerely in that form of sound words in which the Bible presents them, and which has been so faithfully presented in our standards. Have no fellowship with those who teach cardinal errors, the commandments of men instead of the doctrines of God. We are happy to believe that the doctrine of Oberlin perfection, which has found its way into some churches of our denomination, has as yet received but little, if any, counte- nance from you, and we affectionately warn you against it, as a pernicious heresy, the tendency of which is, to cherish a spirit of self-righteousness, and prevent your pressing towards the mark for the prize of your high calling, by inducing the false idea that you have already attained."
The Synod of Genesee, in 1837, record on their minutes : " We feel constrained to renewedly avow our unwavering attachment to the doctrines and discipline of the Presbyterian Church, notwith- standing the suspicions which have been extensively and industri- ously circulated against us. We are free to say that we have no sympathy with the doctrines against which the last Assembly pro- tested, and we believe that no man who receives them can honestly remain in the ministry and communion of our church." In 1840, the Synod passed the following resolutions, viz. " Resolved, by the Synod of Genesee, that the doctrine that sinless perfection is attained or actually possessed by any in this life, is a dangerous error, con- trary to the Word of God, and opposed to the standards of the Presbyterian Church."
" Resolved, that any attempts by Presbyteries, ministers, or church members, to introduce these errors into our churches, while profess-
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ing the Presbyterian standards, are contrary to good faith and Christian morality ; and those embracing these errors, and espe- cially ministers of the gospel, if any are found within our limits, are bound by every manly, honorable, and Christian feeling, to with- draw from the Presbyterian Church, and failing to do this, we re- commend the commencement of discipline in the Presbyteries and churches, according to the constitution, as the only means to pre- serve our denominational integrity."
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