664 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



Accordingly, the presbytery, making full recogni- 

 tion of the ability, sincerity and patience with which 

 the Committee of Prosecution have performed the 

 onerous duty imposed upon them, do now, to the ex- 

 tent of their constitutional p_ower, relieve said com- 

 mittee from further responsibility in connection with 

 this case. In so doing the presbytery are not under- 

 taking to decide how far that committee is subject to 

 the authority of the body appointing them, but they 

 intend by this action to express their earnest convic- 

 tion that the grave issues involved in this case will 

 be more wisely and justly determined by calm inves- 

 tigation and fraternal discussion than by judicial ar- 

 raignment and process. 



In view of the present disquietude in the Presby- 

 terian Church, and of the obligation resting upon all 

 Christains to walk in charity and to have tender con- 

 cern for the consciences of their brethren, the pres- 

 bytery earnestly counsels its members to avoid, on 

 the one hand, hasty or overconfident statement of 

 private opinion on points concerning which the pro- 

 found and reverent students of God's Word are not 

 yet agreed, and, on the other hand, suspicions and 

 charges of false teaching which are not clearly capa- 

 ble of proof. 



Moreover, the presbytery advises and exhorts all 

 subject to its authority to regard the many and great 

 things in which we agree rather than the few minor 

 things in which we difl'er, and, turning from the 

 paths of controversy, to devote their energies to the 

 great and urgent work of the Church, which is the 

 proclamation of the gospel and the edifying of the 

 body of Christ. 



The Prosecuting Committee in January, 1893, 

 filed notice of an appeal to the General As- 

 sembly. 



The Trial of Prof. Smith. The Rev. Henry 

 Preserved Smith, D. D., Professor of Hebrew in 

 Lane Theological Seminary, was tried before the 

 Presbytery of Cincinnati in November for her- 

 esy, on charges based upon articles which he had 

 published in the " New York Evangelist," and 

 on the teachings contained in a pamphlet writ- 

 ten by him entitled " Biblical Scholarship and 

 Inspiration." The charges, which were support- 

 ed by specifications consisting of citations from 

 the article and from the pamphlet, were three 

 in number, and as follow : 



CHARGE I. The Presbyterian Church charges the 

 Rev. Henry Preserved Smith, D. D., with teaching, 

 contrary to the regulations and practice of the Church 

 founded on the Holy Scriptures and set forth in the 

 Constitution of said Church, that a minister in said 

 Church may abandon the essential features of the 

 system of doctrine held by said Church, and which 

 he received and adopted at his ordination, and right- 

 fully retain his position as a minister. 



CHARGE II. The Eev. Henry Preserved Smith is 

 charged with teaching, in a pamphlet entitled " Bible 

 Scholarship and Inspiration," contrary to a funda- 

 mental doctrine of the Word of God and the Con- 

 fession of Faith, that the Holy Spirit did not so con- 

 trol the inspired writers in their composition of the 

 Holy Scriptures as to make their utterances absolute- 

 ly truthful viz., free from error when interpreted in 

 their natural and intended sense. 



CHARGE III. The Presbyterian Church in the 

 United States of America charge that the Kev. Henry 

 Preserved Smith, D. D., a minister in said Church, a 

 member of the Presbytery of Cincinnati, in a pam- 

 phlet entitled " Biblical Scholarship and Inspiration," 

 while alleging that the Holy Scriptures are inspired, 

 and an infallible rule of faith and practice, with deny- 

 ing, in fact, their inspiration in the sense in which 

 inspiration is attributed to the Holy Scriptures, by 

 the Holy Scriptures themselves, and 'by the Confes- 

 sion of Faith. 



Prof. Smith's demurrer and objections to the 

 charges and specifications were overruled, and 

 the presbytery found, Dec. 9 and 12, that the 

 first charge was not sustained (vote 28 affirma- 

 tive. 31 negative) ; while the second charge was 

 sustained (vote 38 to 20), and the third charge 

 was sustained (vote 32 to 26). The presbytery, 

 therefore, sitting as a court, gave its judgment 

 that Prof. Smith be suspended from the ministry 

 of the Presbyterian Church, 



Until such time as he shall make manifest to the sat- 

 isfaction of the presbytery his renunciation of the 

 errors he has been found to hold, and his solemn pur- 

 pose no longer to teach or propagate them. At the 

 same time the presbytery expresses the kindest feel- 

 ings toward Prof. Smith, and it makes this disposi- 

 tion of the case because the interests of truth impera- 

 tively demand it. 



The vote on this sentence was 31 affirmative 

 and 26 negative. The Executive Committee of 

 the Board of Trustees of Lane Seminary after- 

 ward requested Prof. Smith to continue his work 

 at the seminary till a meeting of the Board of 

 Trustees should be held. 



II. Presbyterian Church in the United 

 States. The following is a summary of the 

 statistics of this Church as they were 'reported 

 to the General Assembly in May, 1892 : Number 

 of synods, 13 ; of presbyteries, 72 ; of ministers. 

 1.239: of candidates, 409 ; of licentiates, 64 ; of 

 churches, 2,572 ; of churches organized during 

 the year, 92 ; of ruling elders, 7,859 ; of deacons, 

 6,128; of communicants, 182,516; added on ex- 

 amination during the year, 11,224: of adults 

 baptized, 3,835 ; of infants baptized, 5,025 ; of 

 baptized noncommunicants, 35,905 ; of teachers 

 in Sabbath schools, 16,271 ; of pupils in Sabbath 

 schools, 118,852. Amounts of contributions: 

 For sustentation, $47.011; for evangelization, 

 $90,189; for the Invalid fund, $15,485; for 

 foreign missions, $118,442 ; for education, $47,- 

 937; for publication, $9,264; for colored evan- 

 gelization, $8,855; for church erection, $40,- 

 829; for the Bible cause, $5,459; presbyterial 

 contributions, $16,201 ; for pastors' salaries, 

 $776,592 ; for congregational purposes. $627.876 ; 

 miscellaneous contributions, $117,490. Total 

 contributions, $1,921,630. 



The Executive Committee on Colored Evan- 

 gelization reported that its receipts for the year 

 had been $10,438, and that its beneficiaries had 

 received an average of $85.40 each. The secre- 

 tary had traveled extensively within the Chtirch, 

 and some in the North, where he had delivered 

 three addresses at important meetings, on " The 

 Evangelization of the Negro." The Executive 

 Committee of Education had expended $30,000, 

 and had 261 candidates for the ministry enrolled. 

 The sum of $10,359 had been contributed in aid 

 of the publishing interests of the Church. The 

 sales from the depository had amounted to nearly 

 $37,000 ; the net assets had increased $8,857 dur- 

 ing the year, making the total net assets $93.- 

 055. The receipts of the Executive Committee 

 of Home Missions for Sustentation, Church Ex- 

 tension, and the Evangelistic and Invalid funds, 

 had been $81,730, or $12,119 more than those of 

 the preceding year. Two hundred and thirty- 

 four ministers serving weak congregations had 

 been aided from the Sustentation fund, and 29 

 infirm ministers, 104 widows of ministers, and 9 



