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MORAVIANS. 



MURCHISON", CHAKLES. 



Our view of the leading doctrines is set forth more 

 especially in the Confession of Faith, which has been 

 annually declared by the whole Church on Easter 

 morning for more than a hundred years. 



We hold that every truth revealed to us by the 

 Word of God is a priceless treasure, and heartily be- 

 lieve that the gain or loss of everything, even of life 

 itself, can be brought into no comparison with a de- 

 nial of any one of these truths. And we here espe- 

 cially refer to that truth which the Kenewed Church 

 of the Brethren has ever regarded as its most impor- 

 tant doctrine, and to which, by God's grace, it has 

 hitherto steadfastly adhered, regarding it as a precious 

 jewel : that Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our 

 Bins ; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of 

 the whole world. 



With this our leading doctrine, the following facts 

 and truths, clearly attested by Holy Scripture, are 

 linked in essential connection, and therefore consti- 

 tute, with this leading doctrine, the main features in 

 our view and proclamation of the way of salvation : 



a. The doctrine of the total depravity of human 

 nature : that there is no health in man, and that, 

 since the fall, he has no strength left to help him- 

 self. 



b. The doctrine of the love of God the Father, who 

 " hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of 

 the world," and " so loved the world that he gave his 

 only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 

 should not perish, but have everlasting life." 



c. The doctrine of the real Godhead and the real 

 Humanity of Jesus Christ : that the only begotten 

 Son of God, of whom all things in heaven and earth 

 were created, forsook the glory which He had with 

 the Father before the world was, and took upon Him 

 our flesh and blood, that Ho might be made like unto 

 His brethren in all tilings, yet without sin. 



d. The doctrine of our reconciliation with God and 

 our justification before Him through the sacrifice of 

 Jesus Christ : that He " was delivered for our offenses, 

 and was raised again for our justification," and that 

 we obtain forgiveness of sin, and freedom from tho 

 bondage of sin, by faith in His blood alone. 



e. The doctrine of the Holy Ghost and the opera- 

 tions of His grace : that without Him we are unable 

 to know the truth, that it is He who works in us the 

 knowledge of sin. faith in Jesus, and the witness that 

 we are children of God. 



/. The doctrine of good works as the fruit of the 

 Spirit : by which faith manifests itself as a living, ac- 

 tive principle, in a willing obedience to the command- 

 ments of God, out of love and gratitude to Hun who 

 died for us. 



ff. The doctrine of the fellowship of believers with 

 one another in Christ Jesus : that they are all one in 

 Him, who is the Head of the body, and all members 

 one of another. 



h. The doctrine of the coming of our Lord in glory, 

 and of the resurrection of the dead unto life or unto 

 judgment. 



The section on "The Public Ministry" was 

 amended by inserting the clauses : 



To the Brethren's Church it must be a matter of se- 

 rious, heartfelt concern, that, as she herself firmly ad- 

 heres to her declared view of the mystery of Christ, 

 so also hi the proclamation of the Word within her 

 borders, and in the Christian instruction of the young, 

 there may be no departure from this foundation. She 

 considers it for herself neither necessary nor salutary, 

 by framing a creed formulated in every single point 

 of doctrine, to bind consciences and quench the Spirit ; 

 nor does she expect to see the well-being of the Church 

 promoted by the pledging of her servants to any such 

 creed, inasmuch as she looks, for the attainment of 

 this object, to the revival and establishment of the 

 true spirit of the Church through the grace of God. 

 At the same time, she can not tolerate that within 

 her borders any one teach and preach contrary to the 

 Holy Scriptures, and, specially, to the declarations 



which we, according to our view, regard as the lead- 

 ing doctrines of Holy Writ. 



Sunday-schools were recognized as constitut- 

 ing a proper sphere of exertion in the Church, 

 and were commended to the cooperation and 

 intercessions of members, and to the guiding 

 supervision of ministers and elders as a part of 

 their official labor. On the subject of missions, 

 resolutions were adopted discouraging the at- 

 tempt to educate in Europe native youth from 

 the mission-fields; approving the action of the 

 mission department in declining, principally on 

 account of the lack of funds, seventeen invita- 

 tions to begin new missions; sanctioning the 

 organization of a new mission in Demerara 

 and additions to the missions in South Africa ; 

 and recommending the continuance and, if pos- 

 sible, the extension of the work in the West 

 Himalaya district. The archivist of the Unity 

 reported that the archives contained a collec- 

 tion of historical manuscripts, a library includ- 

 ing pamphlets, and a collection of paintings 

 and curiosities referring to the history of the 

 Church. A number of valuable manuscripts 

 had been secured within the last ten years. 

 The Synod made provision for the appoint- 

 ment of a theologically educated person who 

 should qualify himself for the work of thor- 

 oughly examining and compiling the existing 

 sources of the history of the ancient Brethren's 

 Church, particularly between the years 1620 

 and 1722, and who, it was understood, should 

 qualify himself to study the original documents 

 of the Bohemian Church. Measures were de- 

 cided upon to obtain contributions for the erec- 

 tion of a new and suitable building as a depos- 

 itory for the archives. Three new bishops were 

 chosen : H. L. Reichel, Henry Muller, and T. 

 Wunderling. A new department was added 

 to the Unity's Elders' Conference, to be called 

 the Unity's department, to consist of six mem- 

 bers, and be charged with the duty of main- 

 taining and strengthening the bonds of union 

 between the three provinces of the Unity. 



The year 1889 was fixed upon as the time for 

 the next meeting of the Synod at Herrnhut. 



MURCHISON, CHARLES, M. D., F. R. S., 

 was born in Jamaica in 1830. His father was 

 a physician, a descendant of an old Aberdeen- 

 shire family. In 1845 Charles Murchison ma- 

 triculated at the University of Aberdeen. The 

 first year he bore off the prize in Greek, al- 

 though his tastes were scientific rather than 

 classical. He was an ardent botanist, winning 

 the Balfour gold medal for plant dissection, 

 and the Thompson prize. In 1848, while 

 studying medicine, he lectured before the Bo- 

 tanical Society of Edinburgh on the " Glandu- 

 lar Structures found on the Leaves of Various 

 Plants." In 1851 he graduated with the high- 

 est honors, and was appointed physician to the 

 embassy at Turin. In 1852 he returned to 

 Edinburgh as resident clinical physician at the 

 Infirmary. After this he studied both in Dub- 

 lin and in Paris, until he was appointed Pro- 

 fessor of Chemistry to the Medical College of 



