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LA96 2448C 8^5 LSe0442 University of Western Ontario LIBRARY LONDON - CANADA Class. ..^SoSl. ^iiipp wm wm m-^W^ Price, 26a u. v». a UBmw mam heresy case AT GALT Containing the Judicial Record and History of the Case before the Courts of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, Texts of the Various Appeals and Answers to same by Session of Knox Church, Gait, Presbytery of GueU^md Synod of Toronto and Kingston, wF Synopsis of the discussion and decision of the General H Assembly, ■ISTOIY er TBI .H0URM8 HO¥UMT III «ALT. Statement of Belief, Views, and Experience of the So'Called Heretics. TWO REURKABLB LETTERS BT A UT PRESBTTERIAI TORONTO: IMRIE k GRAHAM, Printers, Ck)LBORNB Strbbt. 1889^ ifJa- >p Religious Publications ! FOK SALE BY J A mi is K. CRANSTON. Wholesale and Retail Bookseller and Stationer, - 6ALT, Ont. Miscellaneottfl, RelUrious, Theological Books and Stahdard Works of Reference a Specialty. Sunday School, Private or Public Libraries supplied at the LowBST Pomiblb Pb;iobb. Liberal Discounts to miniaters and students. Cases of Library Books are sent on an>roval for selection when desired, or carefully selected. Books mailed free on receipt of price. ' ' The following Ixsoks are recommended to those u'ho feel the need and have nn appreciation of literature whioh helps to a better understanding of their glorious privi- leges in Christ Jesus : DIVlNE GUIDANCE. BY THR EDITOR OF " The Expositor of Holinens" A l)ook for TOT^times^ Contains a discussion of this important sub- ject. Also the personal experiences of some of the G ALT Heretics, and other living witnesses. 300 pt^es, well bound. Price $1 00 25 Papsr. How V/e Are Saved ; by J. A. R. Dickson. An excellent Holiness boitk. 25 The Christian Secret of a Happy Life ; by Hannah Whestall Smith. This book is a precious portion to all who are hungering for a life of victory. Per doz., $2.50 in paper. • . • • ^ > •> 'The Open Secret ; by H. W. Smith;. This bool^tihibtds to the Christian the fullness and sweetness of much of Go OS 35 •75 35 50 35 50 35 S« 35 50 I as 75 90 90 90 90 ••it So-Called Heresy Case AT GALT. Contain,,, M. y.ulicial Record an, History of „,e C.s, before the Courts of the Presbyterian Church . in Canada. r^^softhe Various Appeals an. Answers to same by Session of Kno. Church. Gait. Presbytery of GuelpiLd Synod of Toronto and Kingston. \ ■ TORONTO : IMRIE * CRAHAM, PRm™,s. Col«,k„ Stkket. 1889. m PREFACE. ) t This pamphlet is prepared to meet the wishes of those who desilre to hive a connected history of this case from its origin. It will be seen that it is really a compilation of the various records and publications connected with the case in chronological order, witii just snfficient original matter to connect the whole intelligently. The reader will not find all the published matter which has appeared concerning this case. This would make a formidable volume as to size. But he will find it sufficiently full for all practical purposes. The reports of all addresses of an apparently hostile character to the appellants are carefully clipped from newspaper reports, verbatim, so as to avoid the suspicion of unfairness. All records in the official documents which have reference to charges of immorality have been purposely left out, for the reason that they were distinctly and unequivocally left out in the consideration of the case, both in the Synod and the Assembly. See pages 38, 89. By some oversight on the part of those who furnished copy to the printers, two or three short minutes of Session meetings were omitted from the printed official documents, but, when read to the Assembly, they proved to be of such little value that we have not deemed it neces- sary to reproduce them. We direct special attention to the two letters anent this case which appeared, during one of its stages, in the Canada Presbyterian, over the signature of " A Lay Presbyterian." They will repay a very atten- tive perusal. . • ^r^m It7020 4\ I' 11 *^ ^r^^m I' INTRODUCTORY HISTORY . V& THK GALT, SO-CALLED, HERESY CASE. In 1869 the town of Gait was viHited by a great revival of religion under the labors of the Evangelists Russell and Carrol. This work of God, although not confined to Gait, spreading, as it did; over many neighboring places, yet because of the greater results witnessed there links itself in memory with Gait and chiefly with Knox Church. Indirectly the present revival is the outcome of this work of grace, for its recognized leader, J. K. Cranston, was one of the many converts of that great revival. Six years ago David Caldwell, who for upwards of thirty years had held membership in Knox Church, wa.s led by a series of" Pro- vidences to investigate for himself as to the possibility of securing a more satisfactory Christian experience than that enjoyed by him- self and brother members of the Church, and after a variety of soul struggles was enabled to obtain his heart's desire co.icerning this thing. It was while alone in the closet of prayer with his Bible that he saw his privilege of accepting God into his life, after the man- ner of the early Christians. He without hesitation delivered his whole being over to God, and received like them the Holy Spirit thereafter to be in his life the invisible yet recognized law or guide into all truth, and since then testifies to unbroken fellowship with Him. This soul experience he at once began to tell to all with whom he came in contact, not refraining from public testimony in his church. This action on his part soon awakened no little stir, and he was cited to appear before the Session to answer to a charge of heresy. Here he was twice examined, and threatened with a third examination, but then the matter was dropped. Two ypars lat«'r he persuftded J. I). CrariHton and HOine of )iiH frii'it'lK Ut visit a HericH of public services where thiw Huhject was the chief topic for consideration, and liere his friends entere»l into the same spiritual experience. This was not to them the simple outcome of some new doctrine heard for the first time and then accepted under the stimulus of liigh tide emotion, hut was really the result of a lengthened peritxl of examination of the suhject, in the light of conscious unsatisfactory Christian experience, of listening to Mr. Caldwell's testimony, of cl<»se examination of his life lived in their presence, of stun life I attended the various services and Bible classes, and joined the Y.M.C.A. as an active member ; with some others I dis- tributed tracts every Sab oath. Some lOur years after I secured a situation in Gait and btcaoie a member of Knox Church. I here sought to serve my Lord and Master, taking an active interest iu Church and Sunday School work. Leaving Gait, I was for some four years connected with Knox Ghurch, Woodstock, and then again returned to Gait and engaged in the book and stationery business. I again sought to work for Jesus, whom I loved and endeavored to follow. During all this time and up till September 4th, 1887, I realized that my experience was not a satisfactory one. I found daily that sin did have dominion over me, that the good I would that I did not, and the evil I would not I too often did. I did not have tlie power to obtain the victory steadily, so that often I would cry out in agony of soul, " Oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" I looked many times to my various ministers for help, and others who were God's professed children. By listening to their testimony I learned that their experience was similar fo my own, and I notic- ed in their prayers that failure, yes, constant failure, -<_— — , I testi> trang& &s his e and iilure, )btain be de- n the vii. I arose from my knees but did notexperience any change of feeliug; but what was better I had a conscious knowledge that I had honest- ly given myself and all my possessions to God, and that lie had accepted me. I had nothing of my own left and I was wilhng to do anything or be used by Him as He saw fit. The dear Lord whispered loving and tender messages to me and the joy of the Lord soon flowed like a river into my soul. The love of God was shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost giveu unto me, a deep settled peace was mine. At last, at last, I cried, I am at rest, and I shall go no more out for ever. " Sweet happy rest." The land of Beulah was now entered into and the dear Lord communed with me and led me forth to conquer the enemies of the land. I was led up to the Jericho of my life ^d soon found that by walking with God the walls of difSculty disappeared and I was enabled to shout victory through the blood of the L'amb. My past life was reviewed, and the dear Lord asked me, and gave me grace, to make confession and restitution to my fellow man for hasty and unkind words, actions and deeds that under temptation and provocation I had yielded to. Having committed my business to the Lord, I was directed to put away and destroy &11 goods that were of a doubtful character. I debated for a time with reference to certain goods because every body in the business sold them, and I was soon convinced that God would not allow me to keep them, when I opened my Bible for counsel, Acts v., chap. 1 to 11 was before me and the m^'^tter was settled. I now constantly realized the sweet comforting presence of my Lord and Master. I knew the blessed Spirit was my faithful guide. Enemy after enemy was conquered and my life from this time was and is to-day a joy and a song, because I have my beloved always with me. Temptations, trials and difficulties have ever been increasing, but I prove the scripture true : My grace is sufficient for you, for greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Since entering this life hid with Christ in God, and walking in the Spirit, I have learned that it is nat impossible to sin, but I also know and have proved that there is no longer any necessity for sinning. Absolute surrender and trust in my Guide makes it possible to obtain uniform victory over every assailant, and en- ables me to march forward, growing in grace and knowledge daily. I have found that to doubt the presence and leading of my Lord (because of the seeming difficulties of the way, or for any other cause,) leaves me exposed to the enemy of my 3oul, who at once thrusts in darts of sin. I have yielded to discouragement through apparent failure when I thought I had lost all, and it took several days of terrible soul agony to teach me that the only way was to lay aside my doubts and fears and instantly ask for- giveness and yield an unquestioning trust and obedience to my ; I vui. Guide. I have now learnt that if I would be happy in Jesus thert/ is no other way but to trust and obey — being willing to lose all that I may hold sweet fellowship and communion with my Saviour and my God. The promise of the Lord in Acts i. 8, " Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be wit- nesses" has been '^arified. Our home was opened for meetings. Here the Lord' presence has been wonderfully felt. Many saints have been cheered and helped out into a brighter experience, an sinners have been converted to God, and our one desire is that many more may enter into like precious faith, walk lu the Spirit, so find in Jesus a satisfying portion. I now fight' the fight of Faith daily, and find I no longer wage an unequal warfare agamst the powers oi' evil. I prove by the moment that " He that is able to keep us from falling," keeps me and will present me before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Galt, March 6th, 1889. I THE SO-CALLED HERESY CASE— AN EARNEST PROTEST. Mr. Editor, — I notice a short editorial in your issue of Janu- ary 2, in which you quote from the Globe some statements of the Rev. Mr. Jackson, seriously reflecting on the Christian characters of the brethren and sisters recently suspended from communion in Knox Church, Gait. You further remark, that such " acts in themselves deserve suspension, altogether apart from the question of teaching heretical doctrines.*' Without stopping at present to notice this position, to which I, for one, do not subscribe, I would remark ^hat, when this editorial was written, 30U could scarcely have observed in the Globe of Dec. 29 (four days before the issue of your paper), an explicit contradiction by Mr. J. K. Cranston, of the allegations which you quote. Had you read that letter you surely would have cancelled the editorial, or else, in ordinary fair- ness, have quoted the contradiction as well as the charges. And I do not see how any candid reader could fail to be impress by the truthfulness of Mr. Cranston's calm. Christian letter, borne out, as it is, by the Christian gentleness of all that has appeared from these brethren and sisters in their present trying position. I notice, further, a second editoral, containing what seems to me a very gratuitous reflection on " our Methodist friends," as well as on the letter of the Rev. James Harris. Here, again, yoi) do not seem to have seen in the Gbbe of December 31 (two days I igtmrnamt ix. is that Spirit, before your issue), the letter of the Rev. \. Traux, containing a contradiction as emphatic of the assertions which you have quoted from Mr. Jackson regarding him and closing with a seasonable hint as to the importance of making sure of facts before printing or circulating statements " injurious to the good name " of our fellow Christians, whether of our own or of any other denomina- tion ! I must add that I do not see any attempt whatever in the letter of the Rev. Mr. Harris to "make capital " out of the present unfortunate prosecution. His letter, on the contrary, seems to me very seasonable and very much to the point, in view of the present most salutary and Christian movement toward greater co-opera- tion between Presbyterians and Methodists is Canada, so as to ensure a more sonsible and beneficial distribution of Gospel pri- vileges. For, if the principles which have guided the Gait Pres- bytery were to prevail generally in the Prewbyterian Church in Canada, such Christian co-operati'-n between brethren would be practically impossible. As it is, many Presbyterian ministers fol- low the brotherly practice of inviting any Christian members of other Churches who may be present at a communion season to sit down with them at the Lord's table. We are thus confronted with the spectacle of strangers sitting down at a Presbyterian communion table, holding the very same opinions for which attached and faithful members are publicly excommunicated ! And if this Christian practice were ruled out, then, as Methodist ministers frequently occupy Presbyterian pulpits, we might see re-enacted the old story which we all have heard quoted as an instance of Baptist narrowness, now happily obsolete, when a Pa>do-Baptist minister, who had preached the "action" sermon, was excluded from the table, and obliged to retire without partaking of the feast. In fact, there is no end to the un-Christian inconsistencies in which such principles would involve us. It is scarcely possible to overstate in words the grief and indignation with which many earnest and loving Christian hearts — of Presbyterians -as well as others— have been filled by the printed reports of the proceedings in tliis most miserable prosecution ; reports which, as they are to be supposed unbiased, could scarcely do injustice to the prosecution. Many, indeed, have been astonished and bewildered, hardly knowing what to think of an action so unprecedented in their experience, and which, a few months ago, some of us would have deemed im- possible in an age which is supposed to have learned something of the lesson taught by the bitter experience of the past — of the neces- sity of a broader Christian toleration in regard to difference of opinion. Hitherto the feeling excited has, with many, been al- most too strong for ordinary language ; but, lest the silence of sorrow and shame should be mistaken for that of indifference or acquiescence, I think it is time that some of it should find expres- sion in behalf of the thousands of Presbyterian Christians who feel '( i 1 i' i i . ■I^Bf- Itf that, before the Christian as well as the noD'Christian public of this Dominion, their Church has been put, by official action, in what they consider a falpd position, against which they can scarce- ly enter too emphatic a protest. The/o;i« et origo mali to be a fundamentally wrong conception of what constitutes fitness for partakinp, of the Lord's Supper, and of the relation of Church organizations to that ordinance. It is, as Robert Hall asserted long ago, ''the table of the Lord," and not the table of any particular branch of His Church. It is the table set for true believers, true followers of Christ, " whatever their name or sign ; and no Church body, acting in the name of the great Head of the Church has any right to exclude from it — whether temporary or permanently — any one of His true followers who can appro&ch it in sincerity and faith. It is the table of the " Church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven," and no branch of the visible Church has any right to exclude from it any true member of the invisible Church, simply because he or she cannot pronounce its particular shibboleth ! Faith, love and obedience were the sole requisites known to the Apostles, and ua Church which professedly founds its teaching on theirs has a right to demand tests of its own appointment, or bar the way to the Master's table with barricades of its own standards. When any Church — professing, as we all do, to " believe in the communion of the saints," cuts off from its communion any of Christ's faithful people, it takes upon itself the sin of sehism, and must be held re- sponsible accordingly. And of all "heresies," this heresy of dividing those whom Christ has joined together in the tender bond of common love, is, I think, the most deplorable. It is, moreover, in contravention of the time honored principlet and practice of the Presbyterian Church itself that such rigid con- ditions of conformity in opinion are demanded in her name. We are told in an official document, published by the Presbyterian Alliance, that she " never failed to distinguish between defiant contradictors and those able io yield only a general or partial as- sent, but willing to abide in her communion, wait on her teaching and seek from God further light and guidance." This is precisely the position of our suspended brethren, as distinctly defined in their own published letters. Furthermore, the Directory of Church Government and Ex- communication, drawn up by the Westminster Assembly, contains thu following very distinct deliverance : "Such errors as subvert the faith, or any other errors which overthrow the power of godliness, if the party who holds them spread them — these being publicly known to the just scandal of the Church, the power of excommunication shall proceed. But the persons who hold other errors in judgment about points wherein learned and godly men possibly may and do difier, we do not dis- cern to be such against whom the sentence of excommunication for XI. these caases should be denoanoed." There can be no question that the "error" of our Gait brethren — if they be in error — belongs neither to " such errors as subvert the faith," uor to those which " overthrow the power of godliness," since it leads them to strive after the highest " power of godliness," as attainable by the Chris- tian in this life. And as George Herbert well says : " Sink not in spirit ; who aimeth at the sky Shoots higher much than he that means a tree." And,' on the other hand, the point in question is one "wherein learned and godly men may ana do differ," and, therefore, accord- ing to the authority quoted, a difference of opinion in regard to it is not a sufficient cause of excommunication. I maintain, there- fore, that tho action directed against these, our true Christian brethren, is opposed to the oldest ecclesiastical Directory of our Church, as well as contrary to the spirit of its great Head, who demands of his people that, whatever be their differences of opinion, they should be one in Him. I shall reserve some further remarks for another letter. A Lay Puesbytekian. THE SO-CALLED HERESY CASE AT GALT. Mb. Editor, — In my former letter I based a protest against the late ecclesiastical proceedings at Gait on the ground — first, that no Church, acting in the name of Christ, has the right to exclude from His table any of His true followers, even though they may not, in all points, be able ':o conform to its peculiar tenets ; and, Second, that any such aci.ion in the Presbyterian Church is not only opposed to the teaching of Christ and His apostles, but also to the best theory and practice of the Presbyterian Church itself. I quot- ed a passage distinctly proving this position from its old Directory on such matters, drawn up by the same Westminster Assembly which framed the Confession of Faith, and, therefore, of equally venerable authority. I now go on to the position that such excom- munication as is there forbidden, on account of those " errors in judgment about points wherein learned and godly men possibly may and do differ," is also opposed to the best modern thought and practice of the Presbyterian Church. It is true that, in those early times of conflict, when the heat of controversy overclouded men's Christian judgment and charity, as Veil as the distinction between vital issues of faith and differences of very secondary importance, communicants were expected to adhere, not merely to the Confession of Faith, or its older predecessors XII. I bat also to the solemn League and Covenant itself! But when the mists of these times had at least partially cleared away, and men bes;an to see that faith in Christ was not necessarily bound up with such a load of subsidiary matter, this inconsistency of the Church with her own avowed principle as to minor differences, fell into gradual disuse, and has so continued. The Shorter Catechism declares that what " is required to the worthy receiving of the Lord's supper" is " that theyexaminethemselvecof their kno;vledge to discern the Lord's body, of their faith to feed upon Him, of their repentance, love and new obedience." Nothing whatever is iiaid of categorical inquisitions hy Kirk Sessions as to their conformitjr to tlie Confession of Faith ! I have been present at many communion seasons in this country and at some in Scotland, and I never yet heard any minister in " serving the tables " tell the communicants that conformity with the Confession of Faith was a necessary condition of fitness for communion, though I have frequently heard the keeping of God's law and the exhibition of " the fruits of the Spirit " read as the "evidences" expected from the <;ommunicants. Nor in the administration of baptism have I ever heard it required of the parent that he bring up his child in due conformity with the Confession of Faith ! Our Church, therefore, as a whole, wisely refrained from giving to her Standards, in re- gard to the mass of her people, a place never intended by its com- pilers, and which only a fevr extremists would desire. The late lamented Principal TuUoch, of St. Andrew's, has well said : " These creeds and confessions were neither more nor less than the intel- lectual ideas of great and good men, assembled for the most part in synods and councils, all of which, as our Confession itself de- clares, ' may err, and may have erred.' They are stamped with the infirmities no less than the nobleness of the men who made them. They are their best thoughts about the truth as they saw it in their time (intrinsically they are nothing more); and an} claim of infallibility for them is the worst sort of Popery — that ' Popery which degrades the Christian reason, while it fails to nourish the Christian imagination." This is simply true, and the man who would excommunicate another because he does not hold his own favorite views in regard to sanctification or election, would, a few centuries earlier, have been willing to condemn men to death for disbelief in the infallibility of the Pope, or for disbelief in the Trinity, as the Presbyterians of Scotland actually wanted the Long Parliament to do ! The growing influence of the Christian spirit has modified, outwardly at least, the persecuting spirit, but it still exists ; as Dr. Oswald Dykes said in his inaugural discourse at the last Presbyterian Council, " Scholastic orthodoxy has frequently stepped in between the soul and the only Master to whom it owes allegiance, whence have sprung the divisions, the narrow-minded- ness that nothing cau destroy, save the return to the only authority we ought to recognize — chat of Christ Himself." And in days • •• Xlll. when this grand principle of Gospel liberty and simplicity is more fully recognized, and when a deHant nnlieliof is forcing Christians to sink their small points of difference in the great centres of jigreo iiient, it would l»e a curioiisly reactionary niovenitnt to make ctm- formity with Presbyterian Standards a sine qua non i'or participa- tion in the tender Memorial Feast ! In that case, our Church would have to revise her phraseology. The answer in the Shorter Cate- chism would have to be changed into, " that they be examineer8, it in no time to frown on thoHO wlume zeal for tlie nouIh of others n ay HOinetiineH require other channclH than those provided hy the StHnion ! With a inasN of heatheninni abroad and of Hemi-lieathcniHUi at home, our Churcli htis scriouN iHHueN and soriouH work l>efor(< her, for which she needs all her strength. If she beginn to waste it in theological hair-splitting on points whereon true Christians sec difficulty ; if in a time when Uhristians generally are Ijeginning to seek after unity by sinking minor differences, she begins to em- phasize the points in which she differs from others ; it, al)ove all, Dcfore the keen eyes of a cle^r-sighted and critical scepticism, she appears to lay greater stress on an intellectual agreement with a rigid scholastic "orthodoxy" than on the manifestation of the " fruits of the Spirit," then she can only expect to fail miserably in fulfilling her high mission, and to share the fate of those who, when weighed in the balance, are found wanting ! — Canada Pretbyterian. A Lay Prrsbyterian. 'm to fniwn j«H rcMjuiru thcniHin at Ix-'forr her, ivastv it in istians soo winning to ^ns to ein- al>ovo all, ticiHin, she mi wit)i a )n of the serably in who, when TERIAN. THE APPEAL TO The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canaii OP WM. HENRY, DAVID CALDWELL, JAMES K. CRANSTON, JOHN D. CRANSTON, ALEX. B. CRANSTON, LIZZIE MORTON, and MRS. ALEX. KAY. THE APPEAL of Wm. Henry, David Caldwell, James K Cranston, John D. Cranston, Alex. B. Cranston, Li/zib Morton, and Mrs. Alex. Kay, against the action of the Synod of Toronto and Kingston in dismissing their appeal against the decision of the ijiielph Presbytery in sustaining the action and decision of the session of Knox Church, Gait, Slioweth as fellows : 1. That we have not been guilty, nor have any one of us been guilty of any offence within the meaning of Rules 240 and 24.') of Rules and Forms or any other rule rendering any private member of the Presbyterian Church amenable to discipline. 2. That no Church acting in the name of Christ has the right to exclude from His table any of His true followers, even though they may not, in all points, be able to conform to its peculiar tenets, and that any such action in the Presbyterian Church is not only opposed to the teaching of Christ and his apostles, but also to the nest theory and practice of the Presbyterian Church itself. Li •proof of this we ref ar to its old directory on such matters, drawn up by the WestLunster Assembly, which framed the Confession of Faith. 3. That we are conscious of nothing either in our lives or doctrines which should exclude as from our Church or her ordi- nances. 4 We still believe that the apparent differences in doctrine arise from the fact that as believers awakened to a sense of our rf n I .1. ill' ! 1 privHc^jfs in tli»' Oospel, we have given hitherto our whole atten* ti >i toa.'tlvf o'tj li(>ncu t> the C(>iiiiiianein;^ ilt'siriMiN of liviii'^ holy ai 1 hlaiiicloHs lives, to have the apostolie prayor fulKlloil in UK, "that your whole spirit and soul and Itcxly Iks preserveil blaiiifless until the coming of ChriHt." 5. We do (-\pcrienee and teach that th«> Holy Hpirit coin(>N and (hvellN with us ivs he did wiUi the early (/hristians, that we have constant fellowship with Him, and follow Him as our guide into all truth. When we gfi l>efore (io«l intheclosetof prayer we have His conscious approval and His peace and joy is our constant possession by abiding in C'hrist. Now we cannot yet believe that this Christian experience shouM make it impossible that wo should continue membership in the Church of our choice. If in our life there is evil which men may see, we object not to be disciplined therefor, but cannot without the solemn decision of the highest court of our (/hurch, believe that holy living is a disqualification for member- ship in the Presbyterian Church of Canada. 6. We protest that it is neither the teaching of the standard.s of our Church, nor of the Wortl of God that the Christian is to continue in sin that grace may abound. "Jesus came to save His people from their sin.s, not in them, Matt. i. 21. Who gave Him- self for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works, Titus ii. 14. Chap. XX., clause 1 and 3, of Confession of Faith, states that the liberty which Christ hath purchasewer of tlio inllin^ ("hrist, to reckon our oltl man, with his evil teniiencits, as crucified with Christ, that tlio Uniy of sin ini;^ht U* destioyed, that henceforth we shouUl not serve sin and Inj dead indeed Mnto sin ami alive untoOod, throu'.fh Jesus Christ our Lord. And finally we direct your attention to the Htateinent of our exnerience ami views of the truth as it is in' Jesus, as contained in tne followuiLf statement of our Iteliof and views. Wo respectfully ask you to restore to us all rights and privileges before enjoyed by us, indivi«lually and respectively, and your petitioners will ever pray. As witness our hands, this 24th day of May, iSiSf). Wm. Hexkv, David Caldwell, James K. Ciiaxstos, John' 1). Cuanston, Alex. B. Chanston, Lizzie Mokton, Mils. Alex. Kay. Galt, May 24th, 1889. THE STATEMENT. We, the UDdersigned, respectfully submit the followiu^ f jr the goilly judgment of those whom it may concern : 1. We have held our memberahip in the Presbyterian Church as a result of clear, conscientious conviction ooucerning the Scriptaralness of its doctrines. 2. We have, as far as our intentions could make it possible, been loyal members, (a) looking to its ordinances for spiritual help, and {b) laboring for its prosperity. 8. In our efforts to •' grow in grace " we have, iu the order of Provi- dence, been led to study closely our privilege of accepting the Holy Ghost and walking in Him, as taught by Christ and illustrated by the early Christians. We made the discovery, that, notwithstanding our conversion to God was a positive fact in our Christian life, we bad not received the Spirit to walk in Him in what appeared to us the pentecostil sense. Since then we have accepted the Comforter after this sort, and for definite periods of time have walked in Him, recognizing in Him our joy fwr e 11 I ,; (Roiu. xiv. 17) : for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Also our Enipowerer (Acts i. 8) — •• For ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon yon, and' ye shall be witnesses unto uie both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth" (Acts ii. 39): "for the promise is unto you and your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call," (also Acts ii. 32, 83). And our Guide (John xvi. 18) — ''Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come. He will guide you into all truth, for He shall not speak of Fliniself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will show you things to come," (also v. 14) " He shall glorify me, for Ho shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you." And our Teacher (John xiv. 26) — •' But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name. He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you," ^also Heb. viii. 10; Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27). •4. In giving this our experience, we by no means imply that other Christians have not received the Spirit to walk in Him, and have no dogmatic views concerning this thing. But would say that much of the work given us to do among believers has been in helping those who, like ourselves, realize that, having begun in the Spirit, they were trying to be made perfect by the flesh, as did the Galatians. (Gal. iii. 1-8) : "Oh, foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among you ?" (2) " This only would I learn of you, received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith ?" (;{i "Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh ?" 0. In emphasizing this definite work of the Spirit as A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE necessarily we have been brought to consider it in relation to the subject of !3in :.rid thus far have settled the matter as follows : We realize in our own lives the truth of the stateiubnt of St. John (1 John iii. 6-10) that " Whosoever abidethin Him (Christ) sinneth not, whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him." (7) '* Little children, let no man deceive you ; he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous." (8) " He that coramitteth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning ; for this purpose the Son of God was manifested thsit he might destroy the works of the devil." (9) " Who- soever is born of God doth not commit sin, for His seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God." (10) " In this the children of God P''e manifest and the children of the devil; whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother." Also 1 John ii. 10; 1 John ii. 4 ; 1 John iii. 24, "And he that keepeth His commauflments dwelleth in Him and He in him, uud hereby know we that He abideth in us by the Spirit which he has given us." 1 John iv. 4, " Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world." Also 1 John iii. 18-22 ; 1 John v. 4, " For whatsoever is bom of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, A> drink, but power after ci esses imto (I unto the ise is unto any as the lie Spirit of . not speak ak, and He me, for Ho hich is the 11 teach you jver I have f that other ad have no Quch of the 30 who, like e trying to 1-3): "Oh, ot obey the y set forth 3U, received of faith ?" e now made ) the subject e realize in m iii. 6-10) Bver sinneth iren, let no even as He for the devil f God was (9) " Who- smaiueth in In this the ; whosoever eth not bis , "And he in him, and e has given 'e overcome the world." bom of God ii the world, even our faith." Also 1 Corinthians x. 13 ; 1 John 5, " We know that whosoever is begotten (revised version) of God sinneth not, butJMe tli;it was begotten of God keepeth hiiii, and the evil one toucheth him not. " Also Colossians i. 13 ; Ephesians vi. 11-18. As Presbyterians, these and kindred passages we bulievo to bo true, because IN THE WRITTEN WORD OF OOD. Now, we believe that the fram;.vs of the Confession of Faith intended that it (the Confession) should harmonize with and not antagonize tiic Bible, henq^ taking our stand on these Eible verities we expect to find no opposition to them in the standards of our Church . As instances of the harmony that exists, we believe that when it is said that no mere man, since the fall, is dble to keep the commandments of God perfectly, but doth daily break them in thought, word and deed, they mean that no man not born ot God according to the meaning of St. John, as expressed in the passages quoted. The Scripture passages quoted in the standards (Rom. iii. 10-1!)), in support of the statement " no mere man," etc., to our minds, at least, seem conclusive. Also in ch. iii., clause 0, of Confession of Faith, where it is stated that they who are elected, being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ, are effectually called unto faith in Carist by His spirit working in due season are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by His power throui,'li faith unto salvation. Scripture passages quoted in standards in support of abo- are Titus ii. 14 ; 2nd Thess. ii. 13 ; also 1 Peter, 1 and 5 ; cimp. XX., clauses 1 and 8, Confession of Faith, on Christian liberty, which says : — *• The liberty which Christ hath purchased for the believers under the Gospel consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the curse of the law, and their being delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin, from the evil of afflictions, the sting of death, the victory of the gravt> and everlasting damnation, as also their free access to God, and yielding obedience to Him not out of slavish fear, but A CHILD-LIKE LOVE AND WILLING MIND." Chapter xx., clause 3, Confession of Faith, •♦ They who, upon pre- tence of Christian liberty, do practice any sin or cherish any lust do thereby destroy the end of Christian liberty which is that being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we might serve the Lord without fear in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives." The following are a list of Scripture passages as given by the (Con- fession of Faith) standards in support of these statements : — Ezek. xxvi. 27 ; Heb. viii. 10 ; Gal. iii. 18 ; i. 4 ; Col. i. 13 ; Titus ii. 14 ; Acts xxvi. 18 ; Rom. vi. 14 ; 1 Thess. i. 10 ; Rom. viii. 28 ; Rom. viii. 1, 14 and 15 ; and 1 John iv. 18. Also (question 30, Shorter Catechism) the ben-jfits which in this life do accompany and fiow from justification, adoption and sanctificatiou, are assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end. Passages in support are Rom. v. 1, 2, 5 : xiv. 17 ; 1 John v. 13 ; Prov. iv. 18 ; 1 Peter i. 5. TT ,!i, m - % ! pii! : . 'if I ; ' If' 8 If other and beiter methods of harmonizing the different expressions exist, we are ready and willing to be taught concerning this thing. G. We have hitherto acted on the presumption that our Chnrch teaches that the Bible is the true standard of orthodoxy, and that whilst our Church standards help to interpret the Scriptures they profess to be in complete harmony with thqin. 7. The^ofore we repeat that, in accordance with the Bible teaching we believe that being born again and abiding in Christ we sin not, and with the standards of our Church we believe that no mere man can, in this life, keep the commapdments of God perfectly, but doth daily break them in thought, word and deed. , 8. And we wish it t3 be clearly understood that all our answers and statements given at the various examinations, should in all fairness to us, be interpreted in strict accordance with this, our more thorough statcmdnt of belief, as at the examinations we had not the opportunity of giving a full statement of our views. 9. Should the ground be taken that the standards of our Church repudiate the deliverance of St. John, as quoted above, then it will only be necessary that this be established as the distinct deliverance of the Presbyterian Church of Canada, when at once we would cease even to desire to belong to its membership. But till then we shall look upon any action which in part, or in whole, puts us under disabilities as concerning attendance on the means of grace, or as participants in her ordinances, as an injustice, the outcome in all likeUhood of misunderstanding, but none the less a calamity to be averted, if possible, by the use of all legitimate means, as we consider ourselves members entitled to Church privileges, having been received as such upon profession of faith in Christ and obedience to Him, as per clause 199 of Rules and Forms of our Church. N.B. — The above we unitedly stand by as a statement of our belief. As to our Christian experience of being born again we take no responsibility, the one concerning the other. We judge one another, and expect the judgment of all, not on our profession, but on our" lives. If, therefore, any one fails to show forth the spirit of Christ in obeying the commandments, his profession we acknowledge to be vain. As witness our hands this eleventh day of December, 1888, Gait, Ont. / - - James K. Cbanston, John D. Cranston, David Caldwell, Alex. B. Cranston, , Wm. Henry, Lizzie Morton. . r , . Mrs. Alex. Kay. Your appellants, therefore, pray that the said Presbytery cause the said Session to lift the sentence of suspension from Church privileges from them, and direct the said Session to restore to them all rights and A\. 9 expressions liiag. ur Chnrch that whilst rofess to be le teaching n not, and an can, in daily break privileges before enjoyed by them individually and rospectivtly, and your appellants will ever pray. j As witness oar hands this 8th day of January, 1RH9. \Vm. Hknrv, Da'II) C'AI.DWKI.r,. J.\a. K. Cranston. John D. Chanston, Alex. B. Cranston, L1//.IK Morton, Mrs. Alex. Kay. nswers and fairness to e thorough opportunity lur Church it will only nee of the kse even to )k upon any concerning ordinances, inding, but use of all to Church ith in Christ irms of our ur belief. ve take no not on our Christ in wherein they had no conscioasness of siu and no need to ask forjive- neB<). This oleinont in their alleged experience they here entirely omit, and call attention to descriptions of it, which, wliether true or untrue, have not been made the ground of charge against theui, and end by in- sinuating that in the lower courts " holy living" is made '• a disqualifi- cation for membership in the Presbyterian Church in Canada." It is unnecensay to say that there is no foundation for this accusation. G. This protest is only another phase of the false accusation which we have pointed out under the previous reason. No one connected with Session, Prasbytery or Synod has either directly or indirectly indicated that the teaching of the Standards of our Church or of the Word of God is that the Christian must continue in sin that grace may abound. This protest does not rise above the dignity of a slander. And the heautiful^l notation which the appellants introduce from the Confession of Faith only serves to ilhistrate their p.iinful incapacity to understand the Spiritual doctrine of holy living. 7. We are not aware that it has ever been proposed to decide this matter on a side issue. We submit, however, that when the question is whether it is true and whether it is safe to teach that Christians in this life can reach a state in which they have no sin which needs to be confessed and pardoned, whether indwelling sin is present in the human heart in every stage of the Christian's earthly life and is truly and properly sin, is no side issue, but one which every man who is not will- ing to live under a delusion must settle for himself by a careful examina- tion of the Word of God and the workirgs of his own heart. 8. It is difficult to imagine that the appellants could have attached any weight to this reason themselves. For surely they are capable of understanding that although it is true that believers sin daily in thought, word and deed, this is not all that is true of them, either according to our Standards or the Word of God. They teach that in the believer the dommion of sin is broken, and that the power of sin is gradually growing weaker, while grace is waxing stronger and stronger. Not one of these things can be correctly affirmed of unregenerate persons. The reference to 2 Cor. xii. 9-10, shows how the appellants, under the influence of a false theory, misunderstand Scripture and con- found mere natural weaknesses with moral infirmities. 9. This reason is chiefly made up of Scripture phrases all excellent, when properly understood, but so joined together as to indicate that the appellants have very confused notions of the distinction between justi- fication and sanctification, and have failed to apprehend the relation which the finished work of Christ sustains to these two great privileges of the Gospel. T.' ask forjive- iDtirely omit, e or untrue, id end by in- s dis(|ualifi- jada." It is lation. nation which nnocted with tly indicated he Word of nay abound. And the Confession } understand decide this e question is Christians in needs to be n the human is truly and lo is not will- )ful examina- ive attached e capable of tin daily in them, either Qach that in vver of sin is ind stronger, unregejierate te appellants, ure and con- all excellent, cate that the Btween justi- the relation eat privileges Kuox Church, Gait, April 26th, 1888. The which day tho Kirk Session met aud was constituted with prayer by Mudvratur, the Hev. Dr. Smith. Inter (did, iu response to request passed at last meeting, the followinj:; persons appeared before ppellants on been erased. enjoyed by ts will ever 1888. )WELL, ^NSTON, lANST(Sb', TON, Kay. ■ llAN'STON. id sustained lox Church, iiox Church, El ^ j>! ly-A' L.. .r I enth day of ighty-eight, ppointmv<)Dt, cKay, D.D., )peal by Mr. iCirk Sessiou m the Com- ; said action -enter their rights and had issned noticeR to all concerned, and Rummonrd tluni tonpprnr for tluir interests at this meeting. Parties having been called it was fcMiiid that all wore present, and they took their placeH at the bar. The app^'lants were then heard in support of their protest and appeal. The Kirk Session of Knox Church was heard in explanation and justification of their procedure. The minutes of Session bearing on the case were read. The appellants were heard in reply. Ques- tions were put to both parties and answered, after wiiich they were removed, and the Presbytery proceeded to deliberate. It was then moved and resolved, that further consideration of the case be postponed till next regular meeting of Presbytery, and that the protest and appeal lie upon the table in the meantime. Extracted from the records of the Presbytery of Guelph, Robert Toukance, GuELi'H,24th April, 1889. t' • Pres. Clerk. At Guelph, and within Chalmers* Church, the twentieth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, the Presbytery of Guelph met, according to appointment, and was constituted sederunt. Mr. Henry Edmison, M.A., Moder- ator, etc. Inter alia the Presbytery proceeded to consider the protest and appeal of William Henry and others against the action of the Kirk Session of Knox Church, Gait, in removing their names from the Communion Boll, with the prayer that they be re-instated in their former standing and privileges. The protest and appeal were read. Mr. Dickson, was heard from the Session so that the matter might be fresh before the court. After lengthened delibera- tion it was moved by Dr. Middlemiss, seconded by Dr. Wardrope, " That with a view to the satisfactory issuing of the case the Pres- bytery instruct ftie Session of Knox Chtirch, Gait, to prepare a reference of the matter, containing a full and careful statement of the errors alleged, and lay the same before the Presb^ tery at an adjourned meeting to be held on an early day in Gait, with extract minutes of their procedure." While the motion was under consideration the usual hour of adjournment arrived, and the Presbytery adjourned to meet in the same place at a quarter past two o'clock in the afternoon, and the sederunt was closed with the benediction. . .^ ^ Same day and place at a quarter past two o'clock in the afternoon, sederunt as in the forenoon. Inter alia the Presbytery resumed consideration of the protest and appeal against the action of the Kirk Session of Knox Church, Gait, in the case of William Henry and others, when after further deliberation, it was moved by Mr. Tait, in amendment to the motion of Dr. Middlemiss in the forenoon, seconded by Mr. John DaTidsoD, "That the Presbytery having heard the protest i^nd TW : li^ 10 appeal, and also the statement of the Session in reply, regrets that it is not yet in possession of the necessary data for coming to % right decision in the case, and in order to receive all the necessary information regarding the views of the appellants, and, also, to give them the full benefit of what they consider the law of the Church, the Presbytery appoints the following brethren to act as assessors with the Session, to go, if thought necessary, over the whole gronnd again, and to report to a meeting of Presbytery held three weeks from to-day in this pla^e. The Bev. Drs. Wardrope, Torrance and Middlemiss, Messrs. J. C. Smith, and J. B. Mullan, with Mr. Charles Davidson and Professor Panton." After further discussion the vote was taken on the annendment as against the motion, when the amendment was declared carried by a large majority, and the Presbytery decided accordingly. Parties were then recalled and the decision of the Presbytery was announced to them in which they acquiesced. Extracted from the records of the Presbytery of Guelph. Robert Torrance, Guelph, 24th April, 1889. Pre: Clerk. At Gait, and within Knox Church, there, Saturday, the twenty- fifth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and eighty- eight years, at seven o'clock in the evening, which time and place Aie Session of Knox Church met in accordance with the call of the Moderator, and was constituted with prayer by the Moderator, Bev. Alex Jackson. Inter alia the Moderator reported that the Presbytery of Guelph had referred back the case of William Henry, David Cakl- well, Jas. K. Cranston,^ John D. Cranston, Lizzie Morton, Mrs. Alexander Kay and Alexander Cranston to the Sesiuon to prepare it for proper reference to the Presbytery. He also advised the Session that Presbytery had appointed eight Assessors to sii with the Session, and that he had called a special meeting of Session to be held in the Lecture Room, on Tuesday, the 27th day of Novem- ber, 1888, and had advised the Assessors of said meeting. He had also caused to be served on the said William Henry, David Cald- well, Jas. K. Cranston, John D. Cranston, Lizzie Morton, Mrs. Alexander Kay and Alex. Cranston a copy of the following citation properly signed by the Clerk. To William Henry fand to of , the rettj : You are hereb^r required to appear before the Session of Knox Church, at a meeting to be held ux the Session Room of th^ chorch, on the twenty-seventh day of November current, being next Tuesday, at the hour of. two and a-half o'clock of the af^moon (2.30 p.m.), to answer to chorgea oi holding and teaching doctrinea not in accordance with the Standards of the Presbyterian Church -, Vi < '44, ■ 17 of Cnimila nn«l of piirsuin'^ ft \- %aiil iScsHion. iMtc'fl tliis tw(Mity-thinl ve citation on sovcral of the ftccusececdingH in the case of William Henry and oth< rs and submit it to Session and the Assessors of Preshytery at the meeting on Tuesday next. Extracted from the records of the Session of Knox Church. James Cowan, CiALT, Ont., November 26th, 1888. Setsion Clerk. At Gait, and within Knox Church, there, the twenty-seventh dny of November, one thousand eight hundred and ei<^hty-ei<;lir., the Kirk Session of Knox Church met and was constitut-^d with prayer, Dr. Wardrope leadinf? therein at the request of the Moderator. Present Mr. Alexander Jackson, Modera- tor, Mr. James Cowan, George G. Niobol, Walter Tait, Charles McKilli$;an, John W. Murray, Jas. Beattie, Duncan Gillies, Robert G. Struthers, William Slater, George McCal- lura, John Young, Allan H. Goodall and Andrew Taylor, with Drs. Wardrope, Middlemiss and Torrance, and Mr. J. C. Smith, B.D., ministers, and Messrs. Charles Davidson and James Hoyes Panton, ruling elders, who had been appointed by the Presbytery of Guelph at its last meeting as assessors. The minute of Presbytery containing the names and ap]^)oint- ment of the assessors was read. The object of the meeting was stated by the Moderator. On motion, it was agreed that Dr. Torrance be requested to act as clerk pro tempore. Mr. J. A. K. Dickson, B.D., a former Moderator of Session l)ro tern, was requested to take a seat among the members that they might' have the benefit of his counsel. A duly certified extract of Presbytery bearing on the case was produced and read. A document was placed in the hands of each of the members containing extracts, in a printed form, from the minutes of the Session of Knox Church, of their dealing with John D. Cranston and others, beginning with the twelfth day of March of the pre- sent year down to the present date, and the same were compared fnr IS \vit)i tlio manuscript records of tho 8os<)ion, nnd woro found to be correct. Said document also contained cxtriict minute of Pres- hytery on the case as it came before tliein, of diud uf thu 2()th in.stnnt. Attention having been called to tbo fact that tlicro was no mention in the minutes of tho 14th of May tiiat thtt personH whoso names are there given had appealin] from the lindiii;; of the SeHsicm, it was admitted that such appeal had been taken although the record of it had been omitted. Tiie minutes of the last two meetings were read and sufltained. The Moderator stated that, aa the printed document bore, thu following citation had been served upon each of those who had appeared as appellants before the Presbytery, " You are hereby required to appear before the Session of Knox Church," etc., (See record of Session, 25th November) and evidence was produced that tho citations had been duly served. On motion of Mr. Smith, seconded by Dr. Wardrope, it was agreed that a committee consisting of i>r. Middiemiss, convener, Dr. Torrance, Mr. J. C. Smith and James Cowan bo appointed to draft a set of questions to be put to the accused for the purpose of learning more satisfactorily the doctrinal views on the points of which tliey are charged, and of judging whether or not they are in harmony with the Standards of this Church, ami submit the same to the Session at two o'clock in thu afternoon. Mr. Dickson was requested to meet with the Committee and give them any as^istaLce he might be able. The Session then adjourned to meet at two o'clock in tho after- noon and the sederunt was closed with prayer. % At two o'clock in the afternoon the Session met according to adjourn- ment and was opened with prayer. Sederunt the same as in the foronoou, wit'i the addition of Messrs. Thomas liutherford, Robert Gibbon, James Dixon, Adam Hood and T. W. Vardon, M. D. Reasons were assigned for tho absence of Mr. J. B. MuUan, one of tho assessors, from the meeting. Tlie record taken of the business iu tho f jrenoon was read and ac- cepted as correct. Tho committee appointed to draft a set of questions to be put to the accused gave iu their report, recommending six questions, based upon tho Standards of the Church, and designed to bring out tho views of the accused on the matters of doctrine on which they aro charged) with a special one to John D. Cranston who bad previously resigned his posi- tion as an elder of Enox Church, on the ground that he found himself not to be in harmony with the Standards of the Presbyterian Church iu Canada, and the same were approved, and it was agreed that the put- ting of them be committed to Dr. Middiemiss under the direction of the Moderator. On further deliberation it was resolved that each of the accused be ^^i ^ found to ho ute of Pres- ufthu aOth nre was no tli(! personH iidin;; of the en althoagli il siifltaiDed. !ut bore, thu )so who had are hereby " etc., (See odiiced that rope, it was 8, convener, ippointed to i purpose of lie points of □ot they are submit the Mr. Dickson them any in the after- If) ftiWfiA before ilie SeBsion g«parat(ily. tlmi tho '\iirHtinn^ bo road in liini, t'liiit liiH aimwoffl bo takiMi duwii by tlie cl(*i'k, and roud ovii tn hmi at tlio cioM of tlieexamiiiatioti. and hid axi^eiit t3 their corrorMK'XH asked, iifior which he hUuU be diiichargod from further attoudauoo uulo re- cord w»8 a faithful statement of his anHwcrs, namely, William licury, David Caldwell, James K. Cranston, John I>. Cranston, Li^izie Morton, MrH. Alesandor Kay and Alexander Cranston. On further consultation as to the next duty of the Seiision it was re- solved that, in terms of the minute of Prenbytery, they report thuir ])ro- <'t'e(ling8 to tiiat court at the adjourned meeting to bo held in ChalmorB' <'hureh, Guelph, on the 11th day of December next, and that they meet i<3;ain in this place in a week from Saturday next, that is on the ninth • lay of December, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, to consider the minute of this day's proceedings. The sederunt u .s cJoscd with prayer and the benediction by th« .Moderator, IIOUEIIT TORRAXCK, a< ■ff: to adjourn- mc as in the rford, Robert n, M. D. iiUan, one of read and ac- )e put to the , based upon views of the ged; with a ned his posi- }und himself n Church in that the put- ection of the 3 accused be AUTHENTICATED COPY OF QUESTIONS Put to William Henry and others, appearing as summoned, bcforf the Kirk Session of Knox Church, (ialt, on the 27th day of November, IcSHJS, to answer to chiii-fjes of holding and toaching doctrines not in accordance with the Standards of tlw Pivsby- terian Church in Canada, and of pui^suing a divisive course in respect to said Knox Church, or either or both of them made against them by said Session, with the answers therebo Qt'ESTloxs : I. — Do you believe that in the case of any man such grace is ITivvn in this life that he can perfectly keep the commandments of '< »oil, and (loth not dailv l)reak them in tbouifht, word and deed ? n. — Do you believe that in any case the believer is, in this liiV. xlelivei'od from the inbeing of sin ? Ill, — Do you believe that any mere man is, in this life, able t<» perfectly keep the cominandraents of God ? IV. — Do you believ? that there are any seasons in the experi- vnceof the believer whiti he does not need to confess sin ? T^ 20 W' '^i V. — Do you iM'lic.'Vu that tliort' are any soasons in the «;aitli!y exjteri 'ncf of the Cliristian when ht> can dispense with the confes- sion o ' sin aneon called an coinniainl- nicnts. I realize that this is my i .\|)t'ntMU'e.' (I Sfcoml : " Yt;s I do. I bt'licvc that it is our in-ivilc:,'!' to lie olcausod from sin and from all uririixhtcousncss." (). Third: " No, I f<»nn "Do \'ou Itt'licve that any man except Christ is, in this life, able to pcr- Vet'tly ki'f!p the commandments of (Jod'.'" .Vns. -" When a iimn makes an absolute surrender of himself to (Jod, and n'ceives tin- gift of the Holy (fhost, he is kept from sin. I believe that it is possible." Dr. Vardon through Dr. Middlemiss asked, "Do you beli«'ve that you yourself with the grace given you have been enabled pei'fectly to keep the commandments of (jo<1 at any time?" nnd Mr. Cranston replied, "I realize that (lod is keeping nii; from sin by His ahiughty power, and that there is no condemnation to them tiiat are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the tl(,'sh but after the Spirit. Tiiere have been days when (iod has kept me from committing sin." Q. Fourth : " Yes, I do." Q. Fifth: "I do." Q. Sixth: "Yes, I believe we have. Do not know }iow«nmiiy times." The meaning of the question having Jjeen more fully explained, Mr. Cranston answered that they had been carrying on meetings not under the directiein<5." iVns. — "I d^ not understand the question." Q. Thirl: Ans. — "Gwl asks as tj keep them. HLs f^'ace is sufficient." Fourth : Ans. — " While we walk in the Spiiit I U'lieve we do not counnit sin." On the question being repeated. Ans. — "I believe that there are seasoas, namely, ' when we walk in the Spirit and abide in him.'" Q. Fifth : Ans. — " While we abide in him and walk in the Spirit, it is our privilege to dispense with the confession of sin and asking pardon for it." Q. Sixth : " Are ortlinarj?- services meant ?" An explanation was given, when Mr. Cranston replied, " Yes, occasionally." The questions and replies were read over to Mr. Cronston.when he stated that the answers were correctly recorded. I|i! ''' Authenticat-ed copy of the answers given by Messi-s. J. K. Cran- ston and Alexander Cnvnston, to the questions put to them by the Sessicr* of Knox Church, Gait, 15th JUecember, 1888. To Mr. J. K. Cranston— QuESTioy. I. — I do believe that Go^l gives grace in this life so that ho can perfectly keep the commandments of God ; and I do experience that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in me. QUES. II. — I do. QuEs, III. — I do not. " Do you believe that any man, with the exception of Christ, is able in this life perfectly to keep the com- mandments of God?" Ans, — Yes; I do believe that all that are born of God, and abide in Christ, can keep the commandnients of God in this life. I am liable to make mistakes, and commit en-ors of judgment, but not wilful sins needing confession. I cannot have sin without being immediately conscious of it. I believe that the believer can keep the commandments of God perfectly in the sense of not being conscious of sin. I have been in such a stite that I did not need to acknowledge sin before God. QuES. IV.— I do. QuES. V. — I do. QiJES. VI. — Yes, I have attended meetings in my own home on Tuesday and Sunday afternoons, and on Friday evenings in niy mother's. Mr. McCallum asked if Mr. Cranston was a teacher in the S ibbath School, and received the reply that he was. He further as'ved if while in the school he taught these doctrines to his class, and was answered that he did. \-^ 25 J. His ^ace in e in this life so Cfocl ; and I do To a t'liitlier (]uostion if it had Imom l)is custom to toacli tins*' df)ctrin<'s as he had opportunity, Mr. Cranston answi iitl that it had \>vv.n. Mr, (loodall askod Mr. Cranston if ho had over intercepted any parties ((oin^j to district pi-ayer nieetinu^and en(h>avoreil to prevail upon them to go to his ? When the reply was given that he had no recollection of having done so, that he had invited persons at different times to go with him, but had never a.sked theni to leave their own meetings. Mr. J. C. Smith asked Mr. Cranston if he w»vs familiar witli the expo.sition of Scripture contained in the Confession of Faith ? And he replied that he had read all through very carefully. Asked if he hatl any idea that the answers now given involved any conflict V)etween him and the Standards. When he replied that he thought his views are in sub.stantial harmony with the Stan following as its 3xt, according to Presbytery as appellants in the case of protest and appeal had been summoned to appear before them, that they might bo examined on the point of doctrine on which, it was alleged, they were not in har- mony with the StanJards of the Church ; and to that citation they all answered. A Committee of Session had been appointed to prepare a number of questions to be put to each one <^ them, all these questions bearing on the peculiar views which they were charged with holding and teaching, and based partly on the Lord's prayer, and upon certain parts of what are usually regarded as our Subordinate Standards, with one designed to ascertain if they had been following divisive courses in the con- gregation. These questions were as follows : — (See pages 19 — 'iO of questions and answers.) As one of the accused bad been at one time an elder in the con- gregation, and had resigned oi} the groand that he was not in accord with the Standards, one question, in addition, was prepared for hiin, namely. No. VII. Without considering the answers in detail, and which the members of Presbytery have in their hands in printed form, the Session have to report, generally, that these answers show that the accused hold the doctrine of perfect holiness in this life and that they have attained to it. To the question, " Had they l>een teaching in accortlance with the views stated in their answers ?" all replied in the affirmative with the exception of Mr. Alexander Cranston, to whom the ques- tion was not put, and Mr. James K. Cranston, to whose case refer- ence shall be made immediately. To the question designed to elicit information as to their follow- ing divisive courses in the congregation, it Was learned that they held meetings of their own, both central and district, of which the Session had no official knowledge, and that, in some instances, these did conflict with prayer meetings over which tlie Session had control. Reference has been made to the ease of Mr. James K. Cranston. He could not be prevailed upon to give frank and direct answers to the questions addressed to him; his conduct in this respect being in striking contrast to that of the rest, and especially t<> that of Mrs. Kay, Miss Morton and Mr. Caldwell, who gave their replies promptly and pertinently. The Session think they cannot do better than refe:: the Presbytery to the answere of Mr. Jas. K. Cran- .ston, and it will see the reason they had for declining to prfxjeed with his exauination and for excusing him from fui'ther attend- aiice. y, all of whom, leld a meeting in nd proceeded to :ted to attend. }eared before the The Session believe that the following Points are EsTABLr.sHED by the answers given and taken down at the time : — I. — That the accused do hold the errors with which they are charged, and which, of course, are not in harmony with the Stan- dards of the Church, and in proof of which they refer to the West Conf. vi. 5, to (jhe Larger Catechism, ques. 149, and to the 28 Short<'r C»it'jchlsin, qu**, .S2, also to tho fift!i petition of tlio Lonl's prayer. IF. — Tliat it ha'i l»i.'on tlu'ir pr.i?tic!j t > holil their own iM('«'tiiij,'.s iiuli'piMuicMitly f>f those undor ses.sioiial dirt'ction ami authority, and that thoy have tau!:;ht and rMr \ ir\ '^k Vi i\^ m^m ;ji "tlie I'jcsljjtonnn ^ct i(j said Knox I'ljHt tlio auHwers tions i»ro[)OHed by to tliu StaiidiU'dH m oil tiie .subject d tu the toacliiug litli; chap. VI. 5 ; lies. 5)2. (2) That same (juestiona brinity with the any other than ipirit of insubor- leminating their meetiuga which { all the above- )usly to disturb ation concerned. t the Session of )ectivo premises, es in the Preaby- ses said Session n on the ground in the interests lunion Roll, de- srian Church in eave granted by re-*ppoint the ig the case. B. Dickson be foresaid case. Iph. lNCK, Fies. Clerk. ' December, one lession of Knox was oonsfcitated son, Moderator, nested to act as . stated that the ssion at twelve 3rc read, the accused be acG ; that they seedings now to as dealing with and that one of flio iminodl.ilo objects i*''ntpniplatrd was their own •■piritiial wilfim-. It wuH further iigrct'd that .lumcH K. Cranston and A'.txaiider Cran- ston, who have taken the poNition of conttimuctous pcr.HoiKs, \h called in and eii'iuiry made of them if they still adtu>.rod to ilicir \\ funal to .i;ivu plain and pertinent answers to the questions that had hecn prepared, and that in the event of their conuenting to answer, the (<|)p<)rtt)iiity 1)0 given them of doing so, and that thereafter they shall be re^'ardcd a-* occupying the same standing with the others under nceusation. 1' iirthcr Agreed that as on the former occasion the accused be called in and dealt with separately. Dr. Middleiuiss was appointed to conduct the dcalin<^'H of the Session with the accused, under the direction of the Moderator. James K. Cranston and Alexander Cranston were then called, had explained to them the nature and results of contumacy, and were asked if they still persisted in their course, or if t\ioy would show them- selves obedient to the authority of the Session by answering the questions addressed to the others under accusatiuii, when tiioy stated that they were now willing to answer. Alexander Cranston was then requested to retire, and the questions were put to Mr. James K. Cranston, his answers taken down, ajid on these being read over to him be declared that they were correctly iC(icr Cranston, Alex. iLEXAXDEit Kay. Session of Knox hurch of Canada. rere individually respectively, and Session of Knox in of the church, irrent, being next if the nftemoon v^ and teaching the Presl>yterian rse in respect to against you by LMEs Cowan, Session Clerk. the Ses8ion, and 2. We wero then separatidy onllod to npj>«*ar before the conrK ^. Th<; Moderator explained to caeli nue that the coui't had .'irran^ed a set of (juostions whielf wonld be propounded to us by Dr. MiddhMuisN, and int'onneil us that the court winild expi'ct us to answer the questions, yes or no. The following are the questions propounct(>d to answer the (]nestions propounded, and reth n'liuiin in tli(»se that are regenerated, and although it b»! tlirough Christ pivrdotied and mortiHed, yet both itself and all tiie motions thereof are truly and properly sin." We admitted that we had difficulty in harmonizing this clause with cei'tain other clau.ses of " The Confession of Faith " and tlit! Word of God, such as clauses 1 and 8, of Evidences of true fiiith, 3rd and 4th reciuisites. Faith unfeigned is able to make the conscience good, and the heart pure, and the man lovingly oWdient to tlie law, etc., etc. Chap. XX., clause 3: — They who, upon pretence of (christian liberty, do practise any sin or cherish any lust, do thereby di-stroy the end of Christian liberty, \yhich is being delivered ont of the hands of our enemies, we might serve the Lord without fear in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life. Chap, iii., clause 0, reads: — We are redeemed, justified, adopted, .sanctified, and ke{)t by the power of God. » May not this clause (chap. vi., clause 5,) describe the condition of those Christians who, having begun in the Spirit, are trying to be made perfect by the flesh, as did the (Jalatians (see 3rfl chapter, 1st to 3rd verses), or the condition of those; Christians such as Paul wrote to (see 1st Cor., 3rd chapter, lstto4tii verses), or the Hebrew Christians who had not entered into the Christian's rest hecnust* of unbelief (see Heb. chapters iii. and iv.) Surely it cannot describe the condition of the Christian filled with and walk^iig in the Spirit. 6. If this be not the correct interpretation, we cannot under- stand how said clause can be harmonized with other clauses of the Confession of Faith and the Scripture passages on which they are based. (See clause 6, chap, iii.; chap, xiii., clause I ; chap, xx., clauses 1-3; of " Evidence of True Faith," third requisite, clauses 1-4). • 7. Your appellants claim that they are not out of harmony with either question No. 149 or No. 82 in the Larger and Shorter Cate- chism, as judged by the Session. We believe that when it is said that no mei'e man can keep the commandments of God, but doth daily break them in thought, word and deed, they mean no man not born of God — Rom. iii. 10-19, being quoted as a basis of the statement. In pnjof that our view is correct, we call attention to the fact that the same passages are quoted in support of chap, vi., clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, which describe man in his natural condition. 8. We prdtest that the Session's judgment in finding us out of harmony with the fifth petition of our Lord's Pi*ayer was witlujut foundation. We believe that this prayer may at all times be praye'l by the child of God, who is having fulfilled in his life — the third petition of the Lord's Prayer, viz : "Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven." t'. I* I !■»! > ii m\m 88 f). Afpiiii, thocrhlMrcii of (ifxl arolossing. Conseciuently, wo owe a debt of gratitude which we shall never he ahle to jmy. Therefore we can tlaily pray, " For<^iv<' us our dehts," etc., etc. 10. We have wittingly held no rival meetings, and have not advised people to leave their own chuifh or its services. 11. With regard to the statement made l)y the Session in their ix'port to tlie Pre«l)ytery — " That John D. Cranston had resigned his office of the ehlership on the ground tliat ho was not in accord with the Stan lial nature of sin, of the atonement which Christ has effected for His people, and of the application of it to believers by the Holy Spirit. And while the Session would have been pleased to instruct them, or let them alone if they had ren^ained quiet, as they have done with many others at different times in the hope that the Holy Spirit would use His preached Word to lead them into the truth on these subjects, the appellants would not be taught. The Session would also convey to the Presbytery their grateful appreciation of the efficient assistance of the assedsors appointed by Presbytery (Drs. Wardrope, Torrence, and Middlemiss, and Revs. J. C. Smith, B.D., J. A. R. Dickson, B.D., and Elders Charles Davidson and Prof. Jas. Noyes Panton), w.ho have rendered valuable services to Knox Church and the cause of truth. The Session hereby respectfully ask the Presbytery to dismiss the appeal of William Henry and others, and in such a form as will help to convince the appellants that the Presbytery will not allow the Church to be injured or the cause of truth to be imperilled. Respectfully submitted by the Kirk Session of Knox Church, Gait, this twelfth day of January, in the year of our Lord, one thousand, eight hundred and eighty-nine. Jas. W. .Murray, Cierk pro tempore. Alexander Jackson, Moderator. iei with clauses ginal interpreta- of the Shorter ey mean no man ople, the phraae ver lived on iliis rger Catechism, •e-read to them, e is made much any grace re- >f God ; but doth unique reason rd's p'-ayer, con- 8 have no daily ;ain the children )r the gift of His ebt of grittitnde an daily pray to ley believe they aphs to sustain le of the plainest ant of the essen-- s effected for His oly Spirit. And hem, or let them rith many others would use His )se subjects, the ■y their grateful :a appointed by and Revs. J. C. ]arles Davidson able services to to dismiss the as will help to w the Church to IX Church, Gait, thousand, eight Jackson, Moderator. 41 Tlie a'-tcriska imply that that portion of the records which is made up of charges against the moral character of the appollauts is left out, as these charges were virtually withdrawn before the Synod at Itowman- villo. The following letter, which was published in the Sens innnedi- utely after, will more fully explain the matter : — ••THE GALT HERESY CASE. •• EotTOB Nkws, — In justice to ourselves we feel it right to add a few sentences to the report of the so-called Gait heresy case, which camo before the Synod recently held at Bowmanville. It was gratifying to us to see that there was a strong desire to censure the unseemly personali- ties compromising to our moral character, which were brought into the previous trials by our prosecutors. In deference to this feeling Rev. Mr. Jackson, the principal author of thetfe accusations, expressed a desire to have them all expugued from the records, admitting that he had made certain allegations largely through being misinformed and lack of infor- mation. •• It is to be regretted that this admission was not accompanied with suitable apology. Let us hope that the time will come in the near future when ministers of tlje gospel will be an example to their flocks, not only in part, but fully in the matter of undoing wrong when committed. •• We further remark in this connection, tliat as his now acknowl- edged injury was done publicly, it would have been only in harmony with righteousness that he or his friends should have had this acknowl- edgment made public, and not have left it to us. •• We gratefully acknowledge the general Christian courtesy and fair- ness of the members of the Synod at the late investigation, and if a satisfactory result has not been reached, we admit that it is from no lack of time and painstaking on their part. The doctrinal questions seemed at length to simmer down to one, and that ooncerning inbred sin, or the indwelling of sin in believers. Now, as this puzzling question had not seemed to us of such vital importance as the Synod made it, and as we have not intentionally made it prominent in our experience or teaching, we do not regard our replies as final, and therefore do not dismiss all hope of coming to a satisfactory understanding concerning this admit- tedly difficult subject. Indeed, we expressed ourselves at the trial as op'<)n to conviction, and as only holding our expressed views till fully persuaded concerning others as better. •• To this question, which was asked in the following form : • Has the tendency to sin been taken away, and is this tendency not of the nature of evil, and therefore in itself sin ?' our reply was : • If you claim that the tendency to shrink from the law of obedience, especially under testing and trying circumstances, is sin, and if that be your interpreta- tion of indwelling sin, we reply, in that sense, we have never, and do not claim to be free from sin.' •' This answer was not accepted as being sufficiently definite, and so the matter rested. •• Our appeal to the General Assembly was taken in no factious spirit, either as striving to gain some personal triumph, or as under- taking the Quixotic notion of ch^-nging the doctrines of the Presbyterian . f*^wl 42 Church, but from the sense of being still misunderstood, and with the belief that ultimately we will not be found, either voluntarily or by the ruling of others, to never our connection with it. " J. D. AND J. K. Cbanbton. " Gait, May 17." ) K I m iifi^ iSi I' li At Gait, and within Knox Church, the fifteenth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine, the Presbytery of Guelph met, according to appointment, and was consti- tuted sederunt. Mr. Henry Edmison, M.A., Moderator, etc. Inter (did the Presbytery proceeded to take up a protest and appeal by William Henry and others against the action of the Session of Knox Church, G^lt, in suspending them f^rom the fel- lowship of the Presbyterian Church. All of the papers in the case containing reasons of protest and appeal were read. Answers to these reasons by the Session of Knox Church, with other docu- ments were read, each of the appellants was heard in support of the reasons. Mr. Jackson, Moderator, and Mr. McCallum, were heard from the Sesaiou. Opportunity was given to the appellants to reply. Parties were then removed and the Presbytery proceeded to deliberate. It was moved by Mr. James C. Smith, B.D., seconded by Mr. James A. B. l^ickson, B.D., and unanimously resolved, " That the Presbytery having heard the protest and appeal with reasons, and the answers to the same with the other pipers produced, sustains the action of the 'Rirk Session of Knox Church, and dismisses the appeal." Parties having been recalled, the judgment was announced to them when the Session declared their acquiescence in the same, while Mr. James K. Cranston dissented in his own name, as each of the other appellants did in his or her name, and protested for leave to complain to the Synod of Toronto and Kingston, appointed to meet in Bowmanville on the 14th day of May next, promising to give in reasons in due time, and craved extracts which were allowed. Ex-tracted from the recoids of the Presbytery of Guelph. Guelph, 24.th, April 1889. EoBEBT Torrance, Pres. Clerk. At Elora, and within Knox Church, the twenty-first day of Fob ruary, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine, the Presbytery of Guelph met, according to appointment, and was constituted sederunt. Mr. James B. Mullan, Moderator 2}ro tempore, etc. Inter alia there were laid upon the table reasons of protest by William Henry and others against the judgment of this Presbytery of date fifteenth of January last, dismissing the protest and ap- peal against the judgment of the Kirk Session of Knox Church, ■-^: 4n >od, and with the iitarily or by the K. Cbanbton. day of January, , the Presbytery and was consti- Moderator, etc. up a protest and le action of the lera from the fel- nipers iu the case aad. Answers to with other docu- in support of the Hum, were heard the appellants to jbytery proceeded C. Smith, B.D., and unanimously the protest and me with the other k Session of Knox ring been recalled, ) Session declared mes E. Cranston appellants did in •lain to the Synod 1 Bowmanville on in reasons in due Gnit, in suspending ibem from tiie membership of the Cbnrrh on the grounds of alleged doctrinal error, and followiii<^ (liviHJvo courses in the congregation, and appeal to the Synod of Toronto and Kingston of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. On motion it was agreed that a Committee consisting of Dr. Torrance, Convener, Dr. Middlemiss, Mr. J. C. Smith and .Mr. 1). Tait, Ministers, with Mr. Charles Davidson, Ruling Elder, ln> ii] < pointed to prepare answers to the same, and submit tlicm tii Presbytery at its next ordinary meeting. Extracted from the records of the Presbytery of Guelph. Rqueut Touranck, Vrci. ClctL GuEU'U, 24th April, IHfS'j, of Guelph. Torrance, Pres. Clerk. y-first day of Feb . eighty-nine, the appointment, and Mullan, Moderator Lsons of protest by of this Presbytery lie protest and ap- of Knox Church, rti ill ilifi; ! 1 :• : ! i, I!: !* i( ; I 4 \i ■■'1 4; : THK AlM'KAL OF WlIJ-IAM HeXHY, DaVID CaLDWKLI,, JaMKS CllANSTON, ,h)]lS I). CUANHTON', Aj.EX, B. CRANSTON, LiZZIK MoiiToN AND Mks. Alex. Kay, To the Synod f»F Toiujxto and Kinoston, of the PrcHbytnian Church of CaiKidd, ShoiO'th as follnws: That i\ui Prt'shytery of Ouelph (lismissed their a])p('al a;^ainst the fiinliiif( of Knox ('hurcli Session, Gait, Ont, after havini; at a former meeting ^iven a deliverance, which virtually pronounced theiu f^uilty. See judgment of Presbyter}', December 11, ISHS, appended on page 47, to be read if necessary, 1. Thi'refore we maintain that no Court, civil or reli{:fious, has tlio rijifht in equity to adjudicate in an appeal caso on which they had ^ivcn a deliverance. 2. B('in<^ conscious that we do not hold the doctrines imputed to us by the venlicts rendered in our case, we desire that the Synod would, in the interests of justice to us as individual members of the Church, and the cause of Christianity, examine mor»! minutely into charges made against us. 3. We do not believe in or teach absolute perfection. 4. We do not teach sanctification, heart purity, or Christian perfection as a second blessing, 5. Hut we do emphasize the receiving of the gift of the Holy Ghost in a pentecostal sense, as the privilege of all believeiis, and maintain that all the graces of the Spirit flow in due form fntm their fountain head : if we continue to walk ij the Spirit. Moreover, we do not dogmatize as to the time of the reception oi this experience, whether at conversion or any time snUsecjuent thereto. We simply emphasize it as the privelege of all believers who are conscious of their lack. Moreover, we have prayerfully compared the teachings of our standards with those of the Bible, anut indulge the hope that your assembled piety and experience will enable you to secure for us the continuance of the Church privileges and ordinances which have heretofore been a blessing to us. The deprivation of said privileges are to us a matter of deep regret. 6. With reference to other points raised during the progress of the trial, such as the inbeing of sin, the difference between the 45 lie PrcHbyteiinn Imsitive ninl 8U|M'rlative tlt'^ro** in cotiinTtion with siicli tcnns nn MVf, olM't jnufrss to Im* |>i>rffc't in our untlerHtaiidiiig of them, ami are theret'uir oprii to instruction conccrnin)^ them. All we contend for is tlie t'lut that it is our nrivelege an taught in the Scripturen and not piinsuyt-d in tlie Stanuanls, to accept as l»eHeverM the Holy Ohost, the mime aw did the early Christians, an. xanil*>r IV ( 'i';vnsti>n, \v)i«'n the Manic «|U('.stions were put to tln-ni l»y tin* SfSNion tcstinu' tlifir conformity or non-('een for some time calculated seriously to dJHturl) tin; harmonv and hinder the well l»ein;£ of the cony the l'resh3'^tery; and furiliermor(; that the IVesUytery re-appoint tlte assessors to co-opciiite with the Session in linally issuiuLj the case. Rev. Dr. Wardrope, in secondin;ut the resolution, said he lielieved all the parties concernein:^ their apptiil from the sjim*' for HUK|)oinlin<^ tht-in from church f« I- lowHhip, oil thu iillf(^* (1 •ground of Uoctriiml trror aiiil foilo\\iiiu' tliviHive courHes in thi* con^^reijiition. Tiie rtruHontt of protest and iippoiil were reiid mriatint with tho propo8eil unHWt r to ench. it wiiH then roHolved that tlie anHWcrs just nail Ix* upproveii ; that ihey liu adopted hy the I'reshytery uh itn aiiHwerH to the reiison-i that have been h)dK«Hl,and tliat the same Ccnimittee * that prt panil them ho appointed to Hupport thorn before the Synod, wlien the caHe Hhall come up for consideration. Extracted from the records of tho IVesltytery of Giiclpli. lIoiiKirr Tor.i;.\N(i',. I'nx. i'ln-l,-. Guelph, 24.th April, IHSO. •* The Committee nro >)rs. Torrance and Middlemias, Mr. J. C. Smith, 1). Tait and diaries Davidson. Answers by tho Prkshytkhy Ok" Gitklpm to tlm reasons of protest and appeal by William Henry and others against tho jud;,'nient of Haid Presbytery sustaininr^ the action of tlie Kirk Session of Knox Church, Gnlt, on suspending them from the fellowship of tho Church. The Presbytery believe that the best way of answorinp tiic first reason of protest and appeal is to ^ivfi a narrative of the facts in the case. On the iKlh Soptcmber, 18H8, a protest and appeal by NVdhuni Henry and six others — the same that are tho appellants m the present action was laid before the Presbytery against tho action of the Kirk Session of Knox Church, Gait, in removing their names from the Communion Roll of that congregation, with the prayer that the action of tlie Session bo annulled antl that it bo directed to re-enter their names on the Roll, and reinstate them in all the rights and privileges previously enjoyed. After hearing all parties it was decided that further consideration of the case be postponed till next regular meeting, and that the protest and appeal lie on the table in the meantime. At the next regular meeting, on the 20th November, the protest and appeal was again taken up and considered. After deliberation the follow- ing finding was adopted : "Tlie Presbytery having heard the protest and appeal, and also the statement of the Session in reply, regrets that it is not yet in possession of the necessary data for coming to a right decision in the case, and in order to receive all the necessary information regard- ing the views of the appellants, and, also, to give them tho full benefit of what they consider the law of the Church, the Presbytery appoint the following brethren to act as assessors with the Session ; to go, if thought necessary, over the whole ground again, and to report to a meeting of Presbytery held three weeks from to-day in this place, the Rev. Drs. Wardrope, Torrance and Middlemips, Messrs. James C. Smith, and J.B. Mnllan, with Mr. Charles Davidson and Professor Pant on. At the end of the appointed time, namely , on the lltb December, the Presbytery met and the Session of Knox Church presented the following 48 I ! r report which narrates tho steps taken m carrying out their instructionSi and the conclusion at which they had arrived. The gession of Knox Clmrch, Gait, have to report that with the as* BesHors appointed by the Presbytery, all of whom, with the exception of Mr. Mullan, were present, they held a meeting in Knox Church, Gait, on tlie 27th of November, and proceeded to the discharge of the duty to which they had been instructed to attend. ■ In carrying out these instructions those who had appeared before the Presbytery as appellants in the case of protest and appeal had been summoned to appear before them, that ihey might be examined upon the points of doctrine on which, it was alleged, they were not in harmony with the Standards of the Chnrch, and to that citation they all answered. A Committee of Session had been appointed to prepare a number of questions to be put to each one of them, all these questions bearing on the peculiar views which they were charged with holding and teaching, and based partly on the Lord's Prayer, and ugon certain parts of what are usually regarded as our Subordinate Standards, with one designed to as* certain if they had been following divisive courses in the congregation. These question were as follows, (I nted not transcribe these as you have them already.) As one of the accused had been at one time an Elder in the congre* gation and had resigned on the ground that he was not in accord with the Standards, one question in addition v.'is prepared for him, namely No. VIII. Without considering the answers in detail, an J which the members of Presbytery have in their hands in printed form, the Session have to report generally, that these answers show the accused hold the doctrine of perfect holiness in this life, and that they have attained to it. To the question, "Had they been teaching in accordance with the views stated in their answers," they all replied in the affirmative, with the exception of Mr. Alexander Cranston, to whom the question was not put, and J. K. Cranston, to whose case reference shall be made immedi< ately. To the question designed to elicit information as to their following divisive courses in the congregation it was learned that they held meet- ings of their own, both central and district, of which the Session had no official knowledge, and that, in some instances, these did conflict with prayer meetings over which the Session had control. Reference has been made to the case of Mr. J. K. Cranston. He oonld not be prevailed upon to give frank and direct answers to the ques- tions addressed to him, bis conduct in this respect being in striking con< trast to that of the rest, and especially to that of Mrs. Kay, Miss Morton and Mr. Caldwell, who gavo their replies pertinently and promptly. The Session think they cannot do better than refer the Presbytery to his an- swers, and it will see the reason they had for declining to proceed with his examination, and for excusing him from further attendance. The Session believe that the following points have been establiehed by the anidwers given and taken down at the time. I — That the acouaed do hold the errors with which they are charged, and w'aich of course are not in harmonj with the Standards of the Ohuicb, aud in proof of which they refer to the West. Oonf. VI. 6, to the Larger their inatructions, t that with the as- th the exception of IX Church, Gait, on rge of the duty to ippeared before the i appeal had been jxamined upon the e not iu harmony they all answered, spare a number of iestions bearing on 3ing and teaching, n parts of what are >ne designed to as< the congregation, these as you have ler in the congre* Jot in accord with i for him, namely lich the members ) Session have to hold the doctrine led to it. rdance with the affirmative, with questicu was not be made immedi- 3 their following they held meet- I Session had no iid conflict with Cranston. He rers to the ques- in striking con* ly, Miss Morton promptly. The ytery to his au- to proceed with dance. «en esfcabliBbed ly are charged, of the Ohoiob, I to the Larger 49 Gftteohiam, qnes. 140, andtoih* Shorter Catechism, qaes. 82. Also to the fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer. II. — That it hae been their practice to hold their own meetings inde- pendently of those under Sessional direction and authority, and that they have taught, and do teaeh, theur peculiar views at these meetings as well as elsewhere. III. — That one of them, Miss Morton, had been teaching them in the Sabbath School to the class she had under her charge. Respectfully submitted by the Kirk Session of Knox Church, Gait. AI.BX. Jackson, Galt, 8th December, 1888. Moderator. On this report the Presbytery came to the following decision : From this decision it will appear that the Presbytery was filly seized of the case, that they had sufficient evidence before them to satisfy them- selves that the parties were guilty of holding views not in harmony with the Standards of our Church, and had been following divisive courses in the congregation, and then adopted the proper course in the circum- stances by instructing the Session to deal witn the accused in the respec- tive premises according to the rules of discipline appUoable to such cases in the Presbyterian Church. It was at this meeting then that the Presbytery pronounced the parties guilty as charged, thus passing judgment upon them, and directing the Session to deal wiiii them accordingly. In proceeding to execute the judgment of the Presbytery the Session summoned the parties to appear before them, asked them if they still adhered to their former views, and if they considered themselves bound in conscience to teach them, and being answered in the affirmative by each one, the Session in a prayerful spirit, and in solemn manner, sus- pended them from the fellowship of the Church. Each of them gave notice of appeal with reasons, to which answers by the Session were pre- pared. AU the documents were laid before the Presbytery at its meeting in January ; and all the appellants we^-e heard in support of their reasons. The Session was heard in suppci j of its answer. After full in- quiry and consideration it was unanimously resolved that the conduct of the Session in carrying out the instructions of the Presbytery be approved, and that the appeal taken be dismissed. It is against this decision that the present appeal is brought. From this narrative it will be seen that the Presbytery had not only virtually, but actually, pronounced the parties guilty on sufficient evi- dence — the Session had no other course before them, in virtue of their in- structions, than the one pursued, unless that the accused had declared that they had changed their views, having seen the error of their ways, and the Presbytery could not do other than what they did. II. — The Presbytery has no objection to the request contained in the second reason, and they will be pleased, in the event of such an inquiry being held, it should turn out that the appellants are now sound in the i%ith. But it cannot he meant that any ntv inquiry that may be instituted find new information that may be acquired can aflfect the decision to which the Presbytery has come which was founded on answers given by the i M I ' wsmm I I 'til 60 parties themselveH to the qaestions proposed to them — these answers being taken down at the time, read over to each of them at the close of bis examination, and assented to as being a correct record of his replies and statement of his views on the points specified. The question simply is, "Were the questions proper?" And no exception has been taken to them. Were the answers correctly recorded ? And not one has said that they were not. Was the finding of the Session and of the Presby- tery supported by these answers ? III. — To this reason the answer of the Presbytery is that the appellants have not been charged with believing or teaching " absolute perfection," and the Presbytery do not understand why this article has been intro- duced as a reason of protest. IV. — Neither have they been charged with holding the doctrine negatively repudiated in Keason No. d. y. — Answer to No. 6 : While net disposed to be hypercritical the Presbytery does not suppose that when the appellants say " But we do emphasize the receiving of the gift of the Holy Ghost in a Pentecostal sense as the privilege of all believers " they wish to be understood as believing that the Holy Ghost is poured out upon all believers in th& manner, form , degree and for, in all respects, the same purpose, that He was in Jerusai^em on the day of Pentecost. Facts are against them. The Presbytery assents to the statement of the middle clause, and maintain that " all the graces of the Spirit flow in due form from this their fountain head " if the meaning is that the Holy Ghost is the fountain head of the graces of the Spirit — or perhaps better to say " the applying agent," while Jesus Christ, according to the constitution of the economy of redemption, is the fountain, head of all grace. Does the last clause mean that the flowing in due form of the graces^ of the Spirit is conditional upon the believers walking in the Spirit ? I» not the " flowing " prior to and causative of the walking ? The Presbytery has to express its disappointment that the appellants have not explained what they mean by receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost in a " Pentecostal sense." Do they mean, as might be inferred,, that by this gift, and from the time of it, believers are made perfectly holy if they continue to walk in the Spirit ? All Presbyterians hold the doctrines stated in the last section of the reason. They are the doctrines of God's Word and of the Standards of our Church which are founded on that Word. But the appellants do not hold them in the sense in which we understand them. Nor do they themselves hold as a matter of experience "that they sin not," for in their answers to the questions put to them they admit that there are only times, and these but short seasons, when they are without sin, and cannot use the petition in the Lord's Prayer forgive us our debts in the sense in which it is commonly understood. The Presbytery holds that they are wrong in their exegesis of the passages quoted, and that their experience shows them to be wrong, notwithstanding their assertion to the contrary. VI. — To the sixth reason the Presbytery reply as follows : — It is to be regretted that the appellants have not discovered any rigid creed or doctrine on two of the points stated by them as raised during the pro- gress of the trial : — 1st, As to the inbeing of sin, God's Word is explicit k > ' IWfciM\\ V 61 g the doctrine on the subject ; s^ is tha^ " &nse in Chap. VI. of the Confession of Faith, which was read deUber. Ay %vA solemnly to each one of them when under trial. 2nd, As to the difference between the positive and superlative degree in connection with such terms as love, obedience, etc., the Presbytery wishes that the appellants had ^en precise and explicit as to the manner in which these points were raised during the trial, and the aspect in which they were presented. On account of this indefiniteness it does not apprehend the precise views tcliich they entertain. Thev do, indeed, state " All we contend for is the fact that it is our privilege, as taught in the Scriptures and not gainsaid in the Standards, to accept s believers the Holy Ghost, the same as did the early Christians, and walk in Him as our joy, empowerer, and guide into all truth." To this statement by itself the Presbytery has no objection to offer. But the question returns, do^ the appellants believe that there are times when tliey are enabled to cherish " superlative " love to God, and to render " superlative " obedience ? And it is apprehended, in the light of other statements made by them, that this is their meaning ; and it is held that neither the Scriptures, nor the Subordinate Standards of the Church, justify such views. Neither was this the experience of the early, Ohristians. We know it is disclaimed by the Apostle Paul, who, when, according to his own experience as a believer, says « the good that I would I do not, but the evil that I would not that I do." '* But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." The Presbytery is gratified to learn that the appellants feel themselves not to be perfect in their understanding of these points, and, therefore, open to instruction. It trusts that they will continue to cherish and to exemplify this teachable spirit. It is a new experience to them, different from what they bvinced when dealt with by the Session, for they acted as teachers, not as willing to be instructed, and it will be a new practice. In view of these premises the Presbytery ask the Synod, after giving them due and full consideration, to dismiss the protest and appeal and affirm their judgment in sustaining the action of the Session of Enox Church. At Bowmanville, and within St. Paul's Church there, Wednesday, the fifteenth day of May, one thousand eight hundred and eighty nine years, which day the Synod of Toronto and Kinsston having met, and been constituted. Inter alia the Synod took up the Protest and Appeal of William Henry, and six others, against a decision of the Presbytery of Guelph, sustaining a judgment of the Kirk Session of Knox Church, Gait, in suspending them from the fellowship of said Church, for holding and propagating views not in accordance with the Word of God and the standards of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. It was ascertained, on enquiry, that all the parties in the case had been duly cited. The parties having been called to the bar, there appeared Messieurs J. K. Cranston, J. D. Cranston, and A. B. Cranston, for themselves, and as representing the other four appellants, the Presbytery of Guelph, and the Moderator and Kirk Session of Knox Church, Gait. 58 Ills!' 1. The papers in the caae were read, coDsiBting of Reasons of Pro> tetk and Appeal. 8. Minntos of Presbytery of Ooelpb, bearing on the case. 8. Answers olthe Presbytery to the reasons of Protest and Appeal. 4. The action and procedure of the Kirk Session of Knox Church, Gait, in this case. Mr. James K. Cranston, one of the appellants, was heard at length. The Synod resumed consideration of the Appeal asainst a decision of Uie Presbytery of Onelph, interrupted by the special business taken up by the Court. Messieurs John D. Cranston, and A. B. Cranston, the other appel- lants present, were severally heard. Dr. Middlemiss was next heard, on behalf of the Presbytery of Guelph. In the course of his pleadings the hour of adjournment arrived, and parties were removed from the bar. Same day and place. Mr. £. F. Torranee, M.A., Convener of the Committee on the State of Religion, having intimated that the report was not ready for distribu- tion in printed form, it was decided to postpone the consideration thereof till to-morrow, and to proceed with the appeal against the Pres- bytery of Ouelph, interrupted by the adjournment at six o'clock, p. m. The parties in the case were recalled to the bar, and Dr. Middlemiss resumed, and brought to a close his pleadings, as a Commissioner of the Presbytery of Guelph. Dr. Torrance, the other Commissioner, was also heard, on behalf of the Presbytery. Mr. Alexander Jackson, Moderator of the Eirk Session of Enox Church, Gait, was then heard. The appellants were heard in reply. Questions were put and answered. During the putting of questions, it was moved by Professor Maolaren, duly seconded and agreed to, that the order of business to-morrow mornin;! be so far departed from, that, after the passing of the reports on Presbytery Records, the Synod continue to travel in the Appeal case, until it has been finally disposed of. It was further resolved that the Synod now adjourn. Parties were removed from the bar. Same place, Thursday, the sixteenth day of May, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine years. Which day the Synod of Toronto and Kingston having met and been constituted. Inter alia the Synod resumed consideration of the Appeal aigainst a decision of the Presbytery of Guelph, interrupted by the adjournment last night. Parties were recalled to the bar. Additional questions were put and answered. Parties were removed from the bar. The Synod proceeded to deliberate on the case. After reaboning, the following deliverance was Somerville, M.A., seconded by Mr. J. B. Fraser, moasly adopted. moved by Mr. J. M.D., and nnani- The Synod, recognising the fftoi that tlie Appellants have had a fall opportonity of definingtheir position before the Session of Knox Chnroh, Qui, and before the Presbytery of Qaelph, and have also had a full opportunity of stating their case before the Synod, and farther reoog nising the fact that the doctrinal position of the Appellants is not in harmony with the Sabordinate Standards of the Chnrch, and the word of God, and that they declare that they are determined to teach the doctrinal views they at present hold, until convinced that they are mis- taken, therefore the Synod resolves that — The appeal be dismissed, and the action of the Presbytery of Guelph sustained. Parties were recalled to the bar, and the foregoing decision au- ■ noanced to them by the Moderatoi^. The appellants, in their own name, and on behalf of those whom they represented, declined to acquiesce, and appealed to the Oeneral Assembly, indicted to meet in St. Andrew's Church, Toronto, on Wed- nesday, the twelfth day of June next, and craved extracts. Extracts were ordered to be given to the appellants, as asked for by them. The Presbytery of Quelph, and the Moderator and Kirk Session of Knox Church, Gait, both signified their acquiescence in the decision. Principal Caven, D.D., Professor Maolaren, D.D., and Mr. J. Somer- ville, M.A., were appointed to answer the reasons of protest and appeal that may be given in by the appellants, and to defend the action of the Synod before the General Assembly. It was decided that the papers in the case be printed ai the expense of the appellants. Extracted from the minates of the Synod of Toronto and Kingston, by John Gray, Synod CUrk, Parties were T 64 BEFORE THE ASSEMBLY. ',■«;! ii: ' It' a ! I :-mi I The final trial took place in St. Andrew's Church, Toronto, commencing on the 17th of June, Rev. Dr. McMullen acting as Moderator. After the reading of the appeal to the Assembly and the Synod's reply thereto (see page — ) it was decided that the case should be heard throughout in open court, and that three parties on each side should address the Assembly. J K. Cranston, J. D. Cranston and Mrs. A, Kay spoke for the appellants, and Rev. A, Jackson for Knox Church, Rev. D. Middlemiss for the Guelph Presbytery, and Rev. Dr. McLaren for the Synod. James K. Cranston then gave in detail the whole circum- stances of the differences which separated him and his coadjutors from Knox Church. He paid a high compliment to the life and labors of David Caldwell, one of the appellants, who " was a man of God. Many souls to-day were rejoicing who had been brought into the church through his instrumentality." Meetings had been held in his own house for about two years, but he had no thought of opposing the Church. He loved his Church and had no desire to injure her. Those meetings had been blessed to the salvation of many souls in Gait. There are many in Gait to-day who were goiug on the down- ward road, drunkards in some cases, who were rescued from sin, they are on the rock Christ Jesus, and are living witnesses of the good resulting from these so-called holiness meetings in Gait. In these meetings many Christians have entered Into a brighter Christian experience, and have become very much more useful in the Master's service. There was, of course, a good deal of talk about the meetings and a great many stories were circulated about us which were very far from truth. >>ow the Session became alarmed because of these stories. They did not seem just to under- stand us, and possibly we did not express ourselves e& fully as we might under some circumstances. The Session called us before them about the end of April. We objected to being dealt with in that meeting. We said that if there was anything wrong in our 55 lives or acts we were willing t<» put it right, but we wanted to he tlealt with rightly. There won no legal trial held at that meeting, and we expressed ourselves freely in refsrenco to some tjuestions that were asked of us. Dr. Smith «lid not seem to understand us, whether it was our fault or his 1 do not know. At that meeting and the next we were a«ked se>in'al times if we l>elieved in sinKss p»;rfection. We distinctly state* i that we ditl not. Did we lielifve in progressive sanctitication ^ Yes! We know that (iotl has en- abled us to gi'ow in the knowledge of his truth day by day. At the next meeting we were asked to renounce the doctrine of sinless perfection. How could we renounce that doctrine when we had never accepted it ? But that was not satisfactory-, they insisted that we must renounce these doctrines. We were notitied that we were e-xpelknl fn^rn the Church, not suspended, but expelled, exconinuinicated. We appealed from that decision to the Guelph Presbytery, and wo succeeded in our appeal, and the matter was sent back to Knox Church Session with assessors appointed to begin the case de novo. The assessors met in November last, and certain <|uestions were arranged and propounded to us. You know what they are — it is unnecessary for me to read them over. We were placed in a little back room and were called out one by one to be questioned. We were not treated with brotherly kindness, otherwise the brethren would have handed us the questions beforehand and asked us to consider them. Xo ; we wei"e kept in a back room, and one by one we were led down into the middle of the company. We did not know the first thing of the questions, nor what was going to be asked us by them. These difficult theological questions were thrown at us and we were told to answer them pertinently. Practically we were told to answer them Yes or No. I objected for my part. I objected to being dealt with because there was no specific charge against me, and I wished to be, informed what the charge against me was. I was told, " We want you to ans\/er these questions. You need not be afraid to answer thein," we were told, "' your answers will not be used to entrap you. You will have every opportunity of explaining yourselves fully." We were asked the questions and answered them as best we could on the spur of the moment. W^as that anything like fairness and brotherly love ? I trow not. That was not the spirit of our Master. I am soriy to say it. They found us guilty of holding the doctrine of perfect holi- jiess in this life, and that we had attained to it. We held no meetings on Wednesday evenings, but on Tuesdays and Fridays. On some of the evenings there were district meet- ings, and we attended these meetings quite as often as other mem- ibers. It had been said that we importuned members to attend our meetings when we knew that other meetings were going on. The T 56 only case of that kind I know of is that of Mr. McGallam, who came to my house one evening when our meeting was about opening. I though the had come to hear for himself what we taught. But he asked where Mr. Elliott lived. I invited him to remain to the only meeting. When he had come to my own house, could I do less ? He then went on to deal with the irrelevant allegation against the appellants. In closing Mr. Cranston said that he and those who thought with him only desired to serve God ; if there was a better way than the one they had followed they wanted to learn and adopt it. He left the facts for the judgment of the Assembly. ADDRESS OF J. D. CRANSTON. •!1 Mr. Moderator and Christian Friends, — There is a sense in which weappear before you to-day with a measure of fear and trembl- ing, not that we are perplexed or troubled with reference to the final " decision which may be given by this Assembly. At the same time there is that feeling or " tendency " which might be described as one of shrinking from the law of obedience, under what might be looked upon as testing or trying circumstances. However, we feel assured that God is quite able and competent to maintain His own cause. Whilst it is true that we do not feel disposed to speak slightingly or disparagingly of all the good that has been accom- plished in His name in days gone by, but would rather bless His holy name for the good, still we cannot help thinking that there yet remains a great work to be done, and that we are just on the eve of a spiritual reformation, and when we say this we refer more particularly to reformation in the hearts and lives of many people in our churches to-day rather than a reformation in doctrines. Still we are glad to notice that efforts are being made towards the simplification of the statements of our Church creeds. Yet we feel confident that you cannot help but concur with us when we say that reformation is needed in the nearts and lives of many already in- side the pale of the visible church. This movement which is afoot all over the land, and which, if you will, may be designated the Holiness movement, such movement we believe to be of God, notwithstanding the fact that a warning note has been sounded^ and the people have been called upon to beware of the " Hydra headed monster." That this warning has been given, and these charges made against this movement is not surprising. In fact it would be most surprising if they were not made, for every reformatory movement of the Church has met the same charge. In this respect history but repeats itself. When there is any different treatment from that< V of former davH it ig conclusive proof that mich a movement should 1)6 viewed with a suspicion that it may be spurious, for anything that is new in religion, savs a great authority, is not true. While we admit that a charge of fanaticism does not prove that this move- ment is of God, we also admit that an absence of that charge would prove the movement to be not of Ood. History confirms our views that this charge is one of the marks of a genuine work of God. The Rev. C. A. McLaughlin in his address to the Boston Con- vention amongst other things said that it was the custom of many to substitute epithets for arguments, to call names instead of refer- ring to scriptural authority. Christ gives a parable to show how different it is for those who are depending on the dead forms of a past dispensation to accept the new life of a reformatory higher movement in these words, " No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new, for he saith the old is better." Its lesson, says Dr. L Abbott, is one of patience to all Christian teachers, and to all reformers who must expect that men habituated to one form of life will not readily abandon it for a new and better way. " The old is good enough" is the common language of opposition to all reformers. The movement calling for reform and advancement that ex- cites no opposition, thereby betrays its identity as not of the truth. This is the testimony of history. Christ himself by His friends was accused, even of being beside Himself, " while His enemies de- clared He was possessed of the devil and was mad." The same charges were made concerning John the Baptist. " Jesus declared that one of the marks of blessedness was this very thing." So we see it was nothing new even in that day. Joseph was looked upon by his brethren as a fanatical dreamer, Noah an enthusiast. A E readier in England, a century ago, was lodged in jail because he ad announced that he knew his sins were forgiven. Geo. Fox, and the early Quakers, McCheyne, of Scotland, Payson, of Portland, Edwards, of Northampton, the early abolitionists, Roger Wil- liams and a host of others too numerous to mention, all passed more or less under the same stigma. So that a movement that re- bukes worldliness and the spirit of mammon must always meet with more or less such accusations, if not it is spurious. So that the charge of heresy made against the present Holiness movement, which, if reformatory in character, is what might be expected, and is a recommendation rather than othei-wise. So that we would remind you here of the words which Gamaliel gave utterance to, when the apostles were before the council when he said : " For if this work be of men, it will come to naught ; but if it be of God ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye be found even to fight against God." To this they agreed, that IB, to let the apostles go; but we ask did they cease to teach and prea,oh Jesus Christ, notwithstanding the fact that they had 68 •:> been previously oommanded not to teach in HiH name, and were accused with "having filled Jerusalem with their doctrine." Was not the apostle Paul also charged with heresy in his day ? In the 24th chapter of the book of Acts, when he appeared before Tertuliustbe orator, and when permitted to answer for his life und doctrines, amongst other things said. "But tiiis I confess unto thee, thiit after the way which t/tei/ rail heresy, so worship I tlie God of my Fathers." And so now we have been charged with heresy, and have been looked upon by the Session of Knox Church, the Quelph Presbytery, and the Synod of Toronto and Kingston, as being unworthy comniunicants and have been barred, or denied the privilege of sitting down at the Lord's table. Tfoen Home one ask the reason why. We reply in a word, bt>cause thnt we have been proclaiming liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, and is not God calling upon his people to-day to go through, "go through the gates, prepare ye the way of the people, cast up, cast up the highway, gather out the stones, lift up a standard for the people." Do you think has not the standard been lowered in many of our Churches to-day ? In the American war a bra«re ensign got in advance of the faltering line. The flag was in danger of being captured. The captain shouted " Bring thecolorsback tothecompauy." Butjustat that moment, a brave soldier dashed forward shouting " Bring the company up to the colors," and soon that flag was surrounded by a hundred fearless hearts. So we may lower God's standard, and bring it down to the level of our unbelief. Think you would it not be the better way to bring our faith up, so to speak, to the great and glorious standard of His mighty promises ? Dr. Middlemiss said at Bowmanville, that we were all agreed that the low spiritual condition of the membership of our Churches is to be acknowledged with sincere grief and humiliation. But Ave fear the low spiritual condition is due largely to the lowering < of the standard of our Church by many of her teachers >vith reference to Christian liberty, (see chapter XX of Confession of Faith), and bicause of muoh indefinite teaching with reference to the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. Seven young men in Glasgow, longing for an endowment of power for service, agreed to meet nightly to seek the baptism of the Holy Ghost. This they did for three weeks and beseiged the throne of grace continually for this blessing. They wondered that when their all was on the altar that God did not manifest Himself to them and baptise them with the Holy Ghost. But God showed them where the mistake lay — faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, and that as Jesus Christ was God's gift to them, waiting to be taken by simple faith, so in like manner the Holy Ghost, that Jesus said He would send in His Father's name, was to be received in just the same way, by simple faith. In either case waiting for a sense of power was the hindrance. 59 I>!t US look into the luattor of «iivisivf cor -sos for a frw min- uter, iiiul in order to do ho it will Ik; ittTeHWiry to explain to you liow the nie(>tin^ that the ap|R'llantH are holding uripnated. In the summer of 1887 it wa« my privilej^e to attend a seriea of meetings, held ,sj)ecially for tlm t f msecmtion of lx;li«iver« Not- withstanding the tact that my conversion t<» (io said that I t)elievu4i that it waH when tliere waH a com]ilut6 conHecration of all our poweni to (Jo»rd and Saviour JesuH Christ, akH from Maid mooting I be requosted to answer catoK'^rir^lly whethor I could or could not accept the C^nfemion of Faith in its entirety, and to which I repli«Hl that I accopte^i of it. in aH far as I oouin reads a» follows ; " Do you believe that there>are any seasons in the exper- ience of the believer, when he does not need to confess sin ? " Evi- dently tho.se who arranged these questions, think tliere are no- seasons in the eaj"thly experience of the Christian when they do not need to confess sin, else they would not have propounded such a question. To have sin to confess must necessarily mean that sin hrs been committed, so if there are no seasons in which the believer does not require to confess sin, this w'ould mean that the believer is living in. sin, whereas the word of God says, that "Jesus came to save His people from their sins," and not in them, and Paul says, " we are not to continue in sin that grace may abound." Im the answer by tht Synod to reason No. 8 (jf our appeal it is stated that believers sin daily in thought, word and deed, and as there are no seasons in which we are not sinning, would it not be irt keeping with that line of teaching and doctrine, that the Ijelievei-s whole time should be occupied in confessing. The question that arises and sugests itself here, to our minds, is this : are all such: believers convicted by the Holy Gho.st of sinning, which involves a deliberate consent of the will to what is evil : if .so, then it must mean that believers live in sin, which we cannot believe is the- teaching of the word of God, nor yet the Standards of our Church. We ask whose office is it to convict of sin ? Is it not the office of" the Holy Ghost; and is He not faithful in this respect, showing us when there is danger of being overcome by the enemy of our souls, saying to us, this is the way, walk ye in it. ? But if at any time the Christian refuses to give heed to his Guide and instructor, listening rather to the evil suggestions of the wicked one,, thereby harboring evil thoughts, such an one undoubtedly has sinned,- and sin ought &t once to be confessed. We never have held at any time of our Christian experience that we could not sin. But we do hola and believe that " greater is He who is in us than he that is in the world," and that through His indwelling power, we obtain the victory over the world, the flesh and the devil. So that tlxe life of the Christian ought to be one of praise and thanksgiving, rather than one of constant confession. Does not the Word of God say that (I. Cor. x. 13) '• There 66 Imth no touii'tation taken you but such as i:^ common to man. But God is faithful and will not sufTer us to be tempted above that ye are able to bear, but will with the temptation make a way of escape, that ye may be able to boar it ;" also II. Thess. iii. 8 -" Put tlie Lord is faithful, who shall stabiish you and keep you from evil." ATTAINING TO PEBFBCTION. With reference to ha\iug attained to perfection in this life, we dis- claim having attained, because we believe tiiere is progress in the divine life as we- have already stated. The enduement oi power for service is not an attainment, but an obtainment. We cannot earn the baptism of the Holy Ghost, nor can we climb up to it, nor can we win it, as it is the promise of the Father, and must be received by faith. And this baptism can only be received when the believer realizes his utter helplessness and presents himself to God a liviug sacrifice, which is his reasonable service. By receiving the Comforter, and walking in Him, there is stf ady advancement and the fruits of the Spirit will be manifest in the hfe. While holding to the view that it is our privilege to walk well pleasing unto the Lord, rendering a loving obedience, we state now what wc have stated before at some of the exammations, that we believed all that God requires of us is to render a loving child-like obedience. For example, you ask your child to do a piece of work for you, the child does it, and you are pleased with the performance of it, not that the child does the work in the manner nor with the perfection that you yourself could do it, at the same time you commend him for his loving obedience and lionest effort to please you. So in like manner is our Heavenly Father pleased with us, not that our service is complete in the absolute sense, not that it is as grand a service as it will be say ten years after this if we abide in and follow Him. Nevertheless there is a sense in which we believe that God is just as well pleased with the service of to-day as He will be with the service rendered ten years hence. TENDENCY. With reference to our old man and his evil tendencies. We believe it is our privilege, through the power of the indwelling Christ, to reckon our old man, with his evil tendencies, as crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin and be dead indeed unto sin and alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. We believe with the Confession of Faith and the word of God that they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts, and being made free from sin we have our fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life. The Evidences of true faith states that obedience to the law must flow from love, and love from a pure heart, and a pure heart from a good conscience, and a good con- science from faith unfeigned. That unfeigned faith is able to make the conscience good, the heart pure, the man lovingly obedient to the law and will not suffer the heart to entertain the love of sin. These words, it will be observed, are taken from the Confession of Faith. It is a fact admitted generally that by the C' iiotant ever coming, or the obtaining of victory over, what might be looked upon as 67 boing the weakest part of a person's nature, in time such part will be- come the strongest part of his nature, ('or example, we take the case of a man who has acquired an appetite for strong drink, which appetite was looked upon as being his besetting bin. It is not an unusual thing to hear such persons rise up and give a testimony of this description. The love, or tendency, or desire for strong drink has been completely taken away, removed, or, as one person said to me, that he had no more love for it now, or desire in that direction, than if he never had tasted it. Now, we say if God can save a man from his greater or besetting suis, can He not save him from his lesser ones ? But does some one say. Is it not true that in some instances such persons again become victims to their old appetite? Yes, it is true. For this reason, if it were not possible to fail in an hour of temptation, such an one would be an infallible creature. LONGINGS AND DE81BES. We are free moral agents, and when temptation is presented to us in any form the temptation presented is not in itself sinful. But. if tlie suggestion of the enemy is entertamed, harbored, or conceived in the heart, sin has been committed; even though it be not brought forth in actual transgression, but simply manifests itself in longings and desires. These must be confessed as sin and expelled from the soul. Our only safety in the hour of temptation is at once to recognize the presence of the Holy Ghost with us and in us, and allow the tempter and sin to encounter Him, not us. For greater is He that is with us and in us than he that ie in the world. The (juestion might be asked, Do ^'ou claim to occupy the same position Adam did before the fall ? No, we do not. Adam, before his fall, was a perfect creature, and was capable of rendering a perfect service to his Maker, able to keep the perfect law perfectly. Through Adam's fall, and our connection with him, and actual transgressions, all our powers have been and are impaired. So that we are physically and mentally incapable of rendering that perfect service which we otherwise could have rendered, had we not been so injured ; our best services are imperfect. But if rendered with a child-like love, and a willing mind, such service, through the mediation of our Intercessor, is acceptable and well pleasing to God. The question might be asked by some one, Do you think that thi;^ imperfection of service ought not to be confessed as sin ? We reply, that we do confess our incapability and utter helplessness, and can never look upon ourselves but with deephumility and self-abasement. It is acknow- ledged by all that the consequences of sin still remain. But take, as an instance, the case of the prodigal son, who no doubt incapacitated him- self by riotous living ; yet when he came back and made confession, his father gladly received him, and forgave him all, and put on him the best robe. No doubt that son would never be able to forgive himself for sinning against such a loving father. But suppose that son was all the time coming co his father, and saying to his father, " Oh father! forgive me!" We can fajicyhis father looking unto hiseyes saying, " My dear son, have I not already told you I had forgiven you? Do not, I beseech of you, grieve me by constantly reminding me of your past disobadienca. Cant 6S yoa believe tliati meant what I said, when I frankly forgave yon ?" \\9 can imagine the father saying to him, "Why, have yon been disobedient again, my son ? If not, I do not wish to hear about the other." In conclusion some one may a?k, Has the flesh or princirle of evil no place in you ? The location of sin is a matter of compavative indiffer- ence to us, so long as sin is not having dominion over us. We read with pleasure in the columns of the Ghhe a sermon by the Rev. John Burton of Toronto, and in which he said: "There is but one Lord, one statement about one LDrd, one faith, one confession or form of faith,, one baptism, one mode and subject of baptism. If a poor sinner has learnt enough about our Lord to trust Him as lie is being lead to t)ie great presence in peace, and receive an unction from the Holy One, to walk humbly with his God, why should he be confronted with any of the distinctions of Nicene Creed between one substance and like substance; or puzzled about predestination, or even worried about some statement on eternal punishment, or about the form of the Apostolic Church ? You ask are not these questions important? Yes, so is the question of who built the pyramids. But that the body of Christ should be rent, the great family of believers divided, because it cannot be accurately deter- mine when the Episcopacy began, where God's sovereignty meets first with man's freedom, or obedience judged by the form in which water baptism is administered, is to rae more than a blunder, it is a sin against Him whose priestly prayer enshrined the petition that His disciples might be one evfo as He and His Father are." So we might very reasonably ask : Is il right to ask your appellants to locate sin ? J. D. Cranston. Mrs. Kay was next heard. She said afterliving a professedly Chris- tian life for nearly twenty- four years — a life of attempts and failures to attain an ideal Christain life — she found the Spirit of the Lord made her so desperately sick of sinning that she made a covenant with the Lord that she would make any sacrifice to put her through. Bro. Caldwell came to her, and kept continually talking about the baptism of the Spirit. She did not know what he meant until he told her one day that he had lost his bad temper, (for he had a bad temper, and it had got him into many scrapes.) She observed the difference in Mr. Caldwell, and therefore resolved and made a covenant with the Lord, and she went at night and said," Iiord, if thou wilt keep me from sin I will go through anything that is right in Thy sight to put me through." This explains why I am here to-day. The Lord answered her request, anf. un confessing it, she got into trouble right away, as she was told that she was professing stains pcr- fi'ction. But she found she had victory over sin. She had been saved from sinning by the Lord, and in her own cxperitr.ce shejhad gained the vi3tory over sin. This tendency to sin, that had been spoken of, after taking counsel with the Lord, she believed to be sin, but a condition of or tendency to cin should not be that of the Christian. There was such a thing as a clean heart — cleansed by the blood of the Lamb and kept clean by the Holy Gh )st — and with such a heart one could take a good tongue-thrashing without resenting it one bit. «9 She gave a short )nstory of her experieoce in connection with the "various trials before the Church courtn and how she waa tempted by the enemy not to go before the Courts because tliere would be a great array of theology there ; but the Lord made it plain to her that she was to go. Hhe reminded the Assembly how that Dr. Smith, h^r tlicn pa.«tor, \u\t\, twenty years ago. been brought befi ro the Churdh courts, and how God .had honored and blessed him for his fidelity to the truth. Rev. Alex. Jackson, on behalf of the Session of Knox Church, Oalt, gave a brief resume of the case. He said that it had been a practical necessity for the peace of the Church that this action had been taken in this matter. He had nothing personal in the matter because it )iad all been done under his predecessor before he arrived in Canada, and he simply wished to act as an impirtial judge' in the matter. There were three elders who resigned their positions in the Clmrch in sympathy with these brethren, but because they had not obtruded their opinions and made trouble in the Church were allowed to remain in it and were members in good standing still. He read several extracts from minutes ^hich were not contained in the printed racord. He explained the informality in the first citation by the Session as owing to the extreme delicacy of his predecessor and through a desire on the part of the Session to avoid trouble. Mr. Caldwell was accused of creating trouble in the Church by proclaiming his peculiar views in the prayer meeting, especially during the absence of Dr. Smith in California. Mr. Macpherson would corroborate him. For five months the Session bore with the disturbances of these brethren. At tlie clo?e of a large prayer meeting Mr. Jas. Cranston got up, and in a demonstritive way •proceeded to say that a great many of them were mouthpieces of the devil, and if they would only go to the meetings of the appellants they would find that God was blessing them. These peculiar notions were regularly inculcated. The reason why the members were dealt with individually in f'e Session was' that he wanted to reclaim them ; if not all, some of tlu. n. He did his level best to get the ladies out of the scrape. These things were taught systematically in the Church, and the whole Session of Knox Church — the whole board — would certify that these gentlemen boasted that the Session did not dare to touch them. They challenged the Session. They were not as quiet and unobtrusive as they pretended to be. These were things with which the Session had to deal. If they had disciplined Mr. Caldwell four years ago the Session felt they would not have had so many to deal with now. A committee then waited on Mr. Jas. Cranston to deal with him regarding his con- duct in the prayer meeting. Kvery step that had been taken he had consulted with some of the wisest men in the Presbyterian Church, and the reason wiiy he had remained silent was that he felt that most of those interested were the victims of abuse. Mr. Cranston stated that the Sassiun had become alarmed at their progress. This was true, and it would have been better for the Church if it had become alarmed long before. They were boastiny that they were making proselytes and that the room they had for holding their meeting was filled. In the Session aneethig where the two elders resigned owing to their sympathy for these 70 i 1 people, Jamea CrauslOD fihouted, " Glory Ilulldiijah, tlicre's more to follow." One of the CraiiHtou brothers rose in the same meeting and said that Icliabod waH written on the walls of Knox Church. The excommunication was done at this meeting, but he found afterwards that the jFssion did not possess this power, and that there was an indiscre- tion committed. ' itefore they went to the Presbytery be pointed this out to the .Session, and they were ready to acknowledge that an indiscretion had been comtnitted. Mr. Cranston also, at a previous meeting of the Session at which Dr. Smith presided, jumped up with an open Bible in liJH linud aud shouted " You do not know anything of this Book. Yon Khoiild learn something about it before attempting to preach the Gospel." The action of the Presbytery was, that whereas the Session had erred in its action, and not having presented sutticient details of the case, the case was referred back in order to give the appellants the fullest benefit of their interpretation of the laws of the Church. Dr. Smith's absence all the winter gave these people the opportunity of developing this matter to the extent it had obtained. He did not think that it would have ever come before the courts if ke had been in charge all that time. They went over the case from the begin- ning in order to give the Presbytf^ry all possible information regarding it. In answer to the complaint of the appellants that they had been compelled to answer •* Yes " or '• No " to the questions put to them by the Presbytery, Mr. Jackson said that fahey had found in dealing with those people that they avoided the main point of issue and answered the questions in a prevaricative form. It was therefore found necessary to keep them to the point and forbid them to theorize, explaining al the same time that they would have plenty of time to give an elaborate statement. On different occasions dunng the progress of this case dele- gations had gone from the Session and dealt privately with these people with a view to getting them to stop pushing their views upon others, but they hud Leeu time and again rebuffed and told that they courted discipline. In the progress of this whole case he (the speaker) had made but one slip, and the appellants had made the most of it. This was in concection with the pew rent debt referred to so triumphantly by J. K. Cranston this morning. [ ■ Dr. Middlemiss, of Elora, believed there was no more important subject in relation to the spiritual life of the people before the Assembly than this question of the Knox Church difficulty. He protested against the use of ambiguous terms by the appellants with a view to giving the impression that they had been cast out of the kingdom of God and delivered up to the kingdom of Satan. The committee had done the veiv best that they could with safety to the welfare of tlie church. The speaker then went elaborately into the Scriptural and doctrinal aspect of the quPRtiou. He summed up the whole matter as-foUows : — It is not, Can God give such grace that the believer may live without sin ? but, has He so ordained and promised to impiirt such grace ? The wiiole pleadings, both written and spoken, of tlie appellants show that they claim that they have had a conimunicatiou of Divine grace, which we believe God makes to no man in this life. This doctrine must, from the nature of it, result in great danger to the spiritual condition of those I! 71 who hold it. If we believe we have received a blessing from (iod which we have not received we are practising a deceit upon ourxolves. Dr. MiddlemiRA closed with expressing the hope that no nncertuiu sound would go forth from the Assembly in reference to the matter, and that thuH the four courts of the Presbyterian CImrch would stand unani- mously arrayed against such a dangerous doctrine. Rev. Dr. McLaren represented the Synod of Toronto and Kingston. He brie6y reviewed the different aspects of the ease whicii had been alluded to by the previous speakers. He said that tiie procedure- of the lower courts in reference to this matter was in accordance with the regulations of the church books. He would say on behalf of the Synod that they did not elucidate a single idea from the appellants that they cojald not have claimed from the records of the case which carae before them. They were charged with holding erroneous views and disturbing the church. They said they did not entertain absolute or sinless perfec- tion, but they said they had attained to an experience wherein they had no consciousness of sin. This seemed to him a play upon words. Either these people had no sin for which they could hont -ily ask for- giveness or they were living under a delusion. At any rate they had these experiences which could only result from absence of sin or spiritual blindness. He could not understand this otherwise. He asked could this teaching be in accordance with the Standards of their Church ? He thought not. It was not necessary to say a single word in addition to what Dr. Middlemiss had said in answer to this question. It was said in the sixth chapter of the Confession of Faith that there was corruption in the lives of those who were regenerated, that all through there was truly and properly sin. This was unmistakably the teaching of all the Reformed Churches and in the Presbyterian Church all the world over. The teaching of the Lutheran Church was also dislrinct on this point. In regard to the teaching of the Scripture he said it was in some respects more important. It seemed to him that there was no reference to their views in the Bible. These appellants appealed to the Scriptures to support their teaching of these peculiar views. The Scriptures did not supply any similar experiences which would in the least correspond to those which these gentlemen described as taking place in them. Paul, he believed, had experienced something of these intermittent fits before his conversion. He did not tell of this that others might imitate it, but as a warning that they might avoid it. The Scriptures expressly denied such freedom from sin as these expressions implied. There were no just men on earth who did not sin. It was not the purpose of God that such grace should be bestowed in men's lives that they should be con- scious of freedom from sin, and that periods should come when they could not say " Lord forgive us our debts." This implied the presence of sin. The Scriptures did not recognize it as a possible attainment that anyone should reach a condition where he had no consciousness of sin. The appellants were plainly in error both in regard to the Church standard and the teachings of the Huly Bible itself. N.B.- rerhatiin. -The report of these three addresses is taken from the Moil J. D. Cranston replied on behalf of the appellants as follows : 72 f3 It is evident to uh as the trial has gone ou that the whole question i» narrowed down to the inbeing of sin. It is true that the tiiany ciiarges or insinuations oompromising to the moral character of the appellants have not been finally withdrawn, but it seems patent to us that the vote about to be taken will in no wise be influenced by those allegations. So we content ourselves in reiterating our statement of being perfectly will- ing ou any and all occasions to meet our accusers, before any tribunal with proofs as to their falsity. However, as a further reason for not enter- ing minutely into thcpo accusations, we draw attention to the fact that Mr. Jackson made equally strong statements at former trials, aud even Dut them in public print, and when challenged as to their correctness Le neither undertook to substantiate or withdraw them. For example, lie stated that no persons were rescued from open sin at our meetin|[s, or words to that effect. His attention was drawn December 2fHh, 1888, to his error, and we offered to go with him any day to the homes of sev- eral who had been so rescued and introduce him to t! '^m, that he might hear their own statements. He never called and has never taken back lus statements. As an instance of how Mr. Jackson clianges the meaning of a state- ment by the introduction of or the changing of words, he stated yester- day on the Assembly floor, that J. K. Cranston had accused those pre- sent at a meeting, " as being mouthpieces of the devil." Now, what are the facts of the case, and what did J. K. C. state upon that occasion ? for I was present at that meeting and Mr. Jacksou was not, so I will not give it to you second-handed. James, after having consecrated himself to the Lord, found it not only necessary to consecrate himself, but his business as well, having at this time in stock some light literature and .playing cards, which he felt he could not conscientiously continue celling, were by him destroyed. False and damaging reports were circu- lated with reference to his not having destroyed tliem, and this, too, by members of the Church, so that at a prayer meeting in closing his re- • marks, he called attention to the fact that the reports were false which were being circulated, adding that parties who would now circulate laports which there was not truth in, would be allowing themselves ♦• to be mouthpieces for the devil." This, you will observe, named no one, consequently Mr. Jackson's statement was misleading. But again, and with reference to your appellants having boasted and challenged the Session to deal with them, I am inclined to think that he had reference to an interview which I myself had with one of the elders, prior to my resigning the eldership. What took place upon that occasion is as follows : During the conversation with said elder this movement was mentioned, . and after talking the matter over with him I said that if they considered me in error, or teaching error, they ought undoubtedly to have the courage of their convictions and cite me o appear before them, also adding that not to do so was not courageous, when they thought that the seed that was being sown by me was not the good seed of the rgospeL Once more, as touching what Mr. Jackson stated, viz., that J. K. Cranston accused Dr. Smith of not knowing his Bible, is simply false. ^Mr. Cranston never accused Dr. Smith of not knowing his Bible. 73 AN rXPt.ANATIOM WIIUM APPIARFH IN TUB " OI.OBK " JANUARY IHTH. K»0M MB. JACKSON. Sib, — Will you kindly allow me to correct your report of the Tt uelph Presbytery in one particular ? One relative of Mr. Henry paid to cliUrch support in 188(» ; but he never did. Albx. Jackhon. Oalt, Jan. IBtli. It will be noticed that this explanation of Mr. Jackson's can scarce- ly be called a retraction but a reiteration of the charges made against Wm. Henry, whereas it is well known and easily proved that Wm. Henry paid the major part of what was paid in 1HH»J, 1887. FROM THE *' mail, JAN. IOtII, notice what a TORONTO LAWYER SAYS WITH KEFEBKNCE TO THESE CHARGES. Sm, — I noticed in the report furnished you of the GuelpliTresbytery anent to the Gait " Heresy Cass," that certain of the accused, were con- victed of " gross and deUbcraie falsehood." It strikes me that if such were true it were better to expel these erring members for such a charge, rather than for •' Heresy." The Session not preferring such a charge is prima facie evidence that it cannot be sustained and is therefore false. Yours, Fair Play. Now we might go on for almost an unlimited length of time refuting irrevelant charges, but it would not be judicious on our part to occupy longer of your valuable time with them, but regret exceedingly that these matters were introduced in connection with this case. However, you all know we are not responsible for their introduction. In reply to Dr. Middlemiss, regarding inbred sin, we say now what we said yesterday morning, that the location of sin is a matter of com- parative indifference to us, so long as sin is not having dominion or reign- ing in our mortal bodies. We ask why ought we to be worried as to the location of sin ? and is the body of Christ to be rent and the great family of believers divided because wo cannot accurately define or locate slrx. To do so, as the Rev. Mr. Burton of Toronto says, (with reference to some other matters which are deemed important,) would be more than a blunder, it would be a sin against Him whose priestly prayer ■enshrined the petition that his disciples might be one, even as He and His Father are one. In our teaohing, we confine ourselves largely to the receiving of the baptism of ithe Holy Ghost and the walking in Him as our Joy, Empower- •er and Guide into all truth, and obedience to the Holy Spirit as the one law of life, which will secure for the believer a life of perfect peace, t)erfect joy and perfect soul rest. - God*s rest did not come until His work was over ; ours will not. In many cases believers begin Christian life by working and trying to keep the law, struggling in the energy of the flesh, work, work, work, think- ing that progress is to be made in the divine life by such efforts, which .^^^ yy. % -^ ' IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 ■^£■2.8 150 ■^^ |25 2.2 I.I f."^ I- 1-25 ii.4 1.6 ■i Photogra{diic Sciences Corporation 23 WIST MAIN STKfefT WnSTIR,N.Y. 14510 (716) •73-4503 to k 6^ k I, ci 74 iii result only in one failure after tbe other, forgetting all the while that there must be a ceasing from our own works, as God did from His. Betimes you r:\'ill hear people complaining of their weakneBs, inefficiency for Christian work, etc., but in many such cases these same parties »re too strong in place of being too weak. If we would only allow our hands to hang down, so to speak, and allow the blessed Holy Ghost io come in in all Hie fulness, — He who is the Sanotifier, the Guide inta the truth and Empowerer for service,— then rest would be obtained, and victory secured over the world, the flesh and the devil. We agree with Dr. McLaren in his remarks about tarrying for the baptism of the Holy Ghost, because there is a sense in which tarrying is unnecessary. We have been particular in our contention that it was not necessary to wait for the baptism of the Holy Ghost but rather we emphaszie that4his baptism of power may and ought at once to be received by faith on the part of those ^ho have not received the promise of the Father. D. L. Moody, who might be quoted here as a recognized autliority, when speaking of the eudnement of power for service said : " That many people when spoken to with reference to the necessity of being fully equipped and baptized for service will say to you, that they don't need to wait or tarry, but go on working. Well," says Moody, "they might just as well wait until they are endued with power, for they are losing their time very largely anyway." But, perhaps some one may say here that Dr. McLaren and Moody do not agree, but clash ; one says, " there is no need of tarrying," whilst the other says, "tarry." In our opinion they are both right, if properly understood, for this reason : In the first place, it is the privilege of those who do at once fulfil the conditions to receive the promise of the Father without tarrying, while on the other hand, if the person be not willing to fulfil such conditions, such persons go on working without unction, and, as Moody very properly says, they had better tarry, for after all they are very largely losing their time. The conditions are, " a presenting of our bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service." — Romans, xii. 1. "And we are His witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God Ihath given to them that obey Him." — Acts, v. 82. " But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you,, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." — Acts i. 8. As to this being a high attainment, or great spiritua.1 excellence in us, we see no place for boasting. As the baptism of the Holy Ghost is a gift and received by faith, boasting is excluded. In dosing our remarks, we wish positively to state that we have no dogmatic views regarding the location of sin. Permit us to add that hitherto the burden of our teaching has been with reference to the receiving of the Comforter in His various offices, and the walking in Him as our joy and guide into all truth. So that we now ask of you, fathers and brethren in our Lord Jesus, to sustain our appeal, and set aside the verdicts of the lower courts, restoring to us the former rights and privileges enjoyed by us individually and respectively, and thanking you for the kind and patient hearing you have given us. 76 THE APPELLANTS DELUGED WITH QUESTIONS. Rev. Dr. McMullen sftid it was now in ord«r to pui qaestions to the parties, all to be addressed directly to the chair. Rev. Dr. Ure, Goderich — Do I understand that charges of misrepre« sentation are inc'Mded in the indictment ? The es-Moden tor — No. Mr. Jackson — No. Rev. Dr. Ure — To what extent .then were the diviuive coarses followed, were they so far as to endanger the peace of the congregation ? , Rev. Alex. Jacksc ^ — Emphatically yes — very largely, yes. Rev. Dr. Ure (to the appellant John Cranston) — What do you mean by the location of sin ? I am puzzled myself to know vhere it is lotated. Mr. Cranbton — My friend said he was puzzled as to the location of am. Now that is exactly my predicament. (Laughter.) Rev. Dr. Ure — You are asked, Mr. Cranston, as to whether sin is located in the heart or in the flesh. It is said sin dwells in the believer ? Mr. Cranston — That puzzles the best of you theologians. Dr. Ure — There can be no sin m your fingers. Mr. Cranston thought that was just his position— that when sin was removed from the heart the body cannot sm. Rev. Dr. Mac Vicar, Montreal'— What do you mean by the heart ? Mr. Cranston — We are t( Id the carnal mind is at enmity to God» and not subject to the laws of '^od. Or when carnality or enmity is re- moved, from the heart opposi'ion is taken away and our whole tendency is Godward, heavenward — not downward. . Rev. Dr. MaoVicar — When sin is removed, does it mean the removal of something spiritual or physical ? One of the lady appellants — Spiritual. James K. Cranston — Sin is something spiritucJ. John D. Cranston — Sin is the transgression of the law of God. Rev. Dr. MaoVicar — Is i*. defilement or merely voluntary ? Mr. John D. Cranston — Both. Rev. Geo. Haddow, Dallioaiie — I heard the appellant state yesterday that he did not believe in the doctrine of sinless perfection, but believes in the doctrine of sanotification. At times, he said, he bad no con- sciousness of sin. I want to know if, during those times, he believes himself to be in a state of sinless perfection ? James K. Cranston— No. Rev. G. Monro, Embro — Are there times when you do not feel the necessity of confessing sin or to use the petition in the Lord's Prayer ? Mr. John D. Cranston — There are times, as I said, when we have the smile of our heavenly Father and His conscious approval lesiing on us, and we do not feel nnder the slightest condemnation. Rev. Mr. Munro repeated the question— Are there tim.&s in the Uvea of the appellants when they do not feel under the necessity of oonfessiLg sin ? — asking for a direct answer. Rev. J. Hay, Campbellford, rose to & p6int of order, statin/j that the appellants should not be asked to give a categorical answer. Rev. Dr. MaoMuUen said he did not wish to tie the appellants down harshly. 7fi Mr. John D. Gran&ton, replyiug, said : I stated frankly that there were times when wo do not feel any conscionan^sd of having sinned, when God's smile is upon ns, and when we are walking in sweet union and fellow- ship with the Father. Our life should be one of praise and thanks- giving, rather than one of constant confession of sining. Rev. Dr. McVicar— Would Mr. Cranston refuse to be described as sinful at those times when he refuses to confess his sin ? Mr. Cranston — No, sir, I would not refuse. We are sinners saved by the grace of God. Rev. Dr. MacVicar — Then Mr. Cranston would not refuse to be called sinful, but refuse to confess his sin. Mr. Cranston — I want to draw a Hue there, Mr. Moderator. Miss Morton, one of the appellants, from Iier seat in the hall, sAd : When I entered this lifd, I presented my being to God, wanting to live a life pleasing to God, giving my life up to Him just to do as He liked. I was then conscious that my life was pleiising to God, conscious that God was iu me, and that He lived in me. Since then I have felt con- demned for confessing sin. I sav *his fearlessly. I remember the first time I bad an experience of f'- ' kind. I was ibout to confess sin in a customary way, and in a n^oiuent I stopped. The Moderator — That will suffice for an answer to Principal Mac- Vicar's question. At this {>oint J. K. Cranston made the following statement : — He said that it would be manifestly unfair for the Assembly to decide the case on the printed records and categorical answers to the questions as recorded at the trial by •the Session and assessors. But that, in order to do justice to the appellants, their later statements must be taken into consideration, as the answers given at that trial did not fully express our views, and the record in one sense might be said to have been fallen from. If asked the questions again, both a Yes and No answer would be given, and then an explanation would have followed. But if we were confined to either an affirmative or negative answer, our former replies would have to stand. We do not believe in perfect holiness or sinless perfection in the sense that some of our answers would "seem to imply, and the Assembly ought, to deal justly, to take into consideration our later statements and explanations, and nothing has been said in this <:ourt against these as being out of harmony with our church. Rev. G. F. Bruce, Beaverton, said, in listening to the statement, he had heard the word " consciousness " very frequently used as holding the ultimate ground of evidence of the spiritual condition. Then he asked, " Ifa Christian clings to and puts his faith in consciousness, holding that he is free from sin, were we to understand that he is essentially free from sin ?" Mrs. Kay said : Take the case of telling a falsehood. Cannot I be conscious that I have told a falsehood ? Cannot I be conscious that I love a falsehood ? J. K. Cranston answered that the conscioasness was not the sole guide, but rather the Holy Ghost indwelling. Simi.lif^ing his answer, Mr. Cranston said that the consciousness was not the highest guide. Rev. Dr. McMuUen—The quciiion is. Is your conscience a oriterton io determine what your state is in God's eight ? Mr. John D. Cranston — Our conscioasness is not the highest guide. ■ee 77 Bev. Mr. Brnce — On what groaods then is , oonsotousaess madfr to appear the sole ground ? Bey. Dr. McMuUen — He repudiates that. • Bey. Styles Fraser — How then doeti tba Holy Spirit reveal to theia their condition ? Mr. John D. Cranston — The answer to that question is better realized than expressed. You know there are things in oar inner consciousness. we cannot begin even to express. Bev. Dr. Cochrane asked : Can a believek* be made peifiict in hoiiness before the hour of death ? Mr. Cranston — There is a sense in which he can not. There is the growing in grace and knowledge, and oeing tnuosformed from glory to glory, from image to image, as by the Spirit of Ood. At the close of the questions the Assembly proceeded to argue the; case and give judgment when Bev. Dr. Laing said they did not wish such oases to be brought before them, but tftis supreme court had the right to deliberate and pass judgment on such important questions, involving as even they did the peace of the Church as well as the purity of doctrine. He hoped to be able to speak of this case in a judicial manner without un- nec^essarily hurting the feeling of any one. A great deal of irrelevant, matter had been brought out in the speeches. This was to be regretted, as it should not have been brought in. He regretted that the record, itself had not been perfect and without reflecting upon the appellants — for they were not to blame in this matter — ii did seem strange that after the Synod had instruc^iCd the publication of the documents at the ex- pense of the appellants, something more than the documents should have got before the Assembly. In the first place they had to look to the rea sons of the appeal. Why were the appellants not satisfied with the de- cision of the Synod ? Why had they come up before this court asking reconsideration of this case ? In the first place, there had been no com- plaint on the part of the appellants as to any irregularity in the proceed- ings, and no complaint of any injustice having been done the appellants in the Synod. He thought substantial justice had been done in this case by the Session, the Presbytery and the Synod, and more especially by the Synod, from which the appeal had come to this supreme court. (Hear, hear.) He thought the treatment of the Synod had been kind and courteous. The next reason for the appeal must be the substance of the division. It was to this that the appellants had taken objection The decisions were, first the decision of the Synod, which substantially said : " Dismiss the appeal and approve of the decision of the Presby- tery." Then came the decision of the Presbytery, which said : "Dis- miss the Append and sustain the action of the Session." The decision of the Session was the decision t^ which the appeHants were taking ob- jection. In this judgment there was a clear statement of the views of the appel'acis in reference to entire sanctification in this life culminat- ing in the assertion that they had experienced a state in which they were without sin and had no sin to ask forgiveness of. Was this a fair state- ment of their views ? was the question. According to the documents they did hold these opinions. These opinions were contrary to the Standards and they were dangerous in their tendency. He did not in- tend to enlarge on these points, bec:iuse Drs. McLaren and Middlemisa 78 had satisfied all present that the views held by the appellantH were con- trary to the Standurds. The appellants persisted in teaching these doc- trines, and one of tfle appellants had told the court that he considered it liis dnty, almost as his mission, to testify to this grand truth and seek to raise religion into a higher sphere than it had attained in the past. The Session of Knox Church, Oalt, had realized that if they did not take action they would themselves be responsible for this teaching, and the bretliren and sisters were suspended accordingly. These errors had been taught by the appellants, and thev had been even been taught in the Sabbath school. The appellants had not been excommunicated ; they had been suspended. They had simply been disciplined as .any other member of the Church in error would have been disciplined. These brethren and sisters had been offending againnt the Presbyterian Church. They might think so and they might not, but he (Dr. Laing) had to say that the offenders had been kindly dealt with. They would not submit and they had then been suspended^until such time only as they might be brought into agreement with the Standards of the Presbyterian Church. The Session had gone so far as to inform them that they could hold these views and remain within the Churclt if they would not prapagate them. He (Dr. Laing) could conceive of no more tender way of dealing with the appellants in considering the offence. He desired to say that he felt gratified at several things in connection this painful duty. They had all felt, he thought, that there was something hopeful in the profession made by their appellants-r-that they were willing to learn. They had confessed that there were things which had puzzled them. They had acknowledged that they had not been able to discover the whole of these truths and they were willing to be taught. They had invoked the wisdom of the Church courts to direct them, and if disciplined migh't be able again to take up their places in the Church of God. Another thing which had pleased the speaker was the great unwillingness expressed by the appellants to leave the Church which they so much prized, and they said suspension would be a hardship. This was just what sus- pension was intended for. The discipline of the Church wiis now having its effect upon these appellants. They had felt that they had done some* thing which the Church in the name of Christ had taken notci of^ and they might honestly come back to work with the members of the Presby- terian Church in the service of the Lord. He said they had all been pleased with the demeanor of the appellants. He hoped they would now bow to the superior wisdom of the Assembly, the highest court of the Presbyterian body. The Assembly had heard nothing to lead them to suspect that tiie appellants would not submit to the ruling. He then moved the following resolution, which he said would be seconded by Chief Justice Tdylor, of Manitoba : "Dismiss the appeal, sustain the decision of the Synod and the other courts by which the appellants are suspended from the Church privileges in terms of the judgment of the primary court, the Assembly affectionately beseeching the appellants prayerfully to consider their peculiar views and position in the light which has been cast thereon, and expressed the hope that they will respect and yield obedience to tne judgment of the superior court and submit to the autliority of the Session, so that they may continue to Uve in peace and love as members of the Church with which they have hitherto been as- 70 8ooia*ed, and the privilege of being coonected with which they profess to highly prise." Chief JastioA Taylor, of Manitoba, reviewed the case on somewhat similar lines to those taken up by Rev. Dr. Laing. He was glad to see that the appellants ha/C frankly answered qaestions put to them. What the Assembly really had to deal with was the action of the Session. He then dwelt apon the judgment of the Session of Knox Cburch,and agreed with that report thai iuc teachings of the appellants were opposed to the Standards and the doctrines of the Presbyterian Church. The Session would have failed in its duty if it had liot taken steps to prevent these erroneous doctrines from being taught in the Presbyterian Church. He seconded the resolution made by Rev. Dr. Lain^. Rev. Mr. Ure rose to submit an amendment. He thoroughly agreed, he said, with the remarks of the mover and^eeconder of the resolution as to the brotherly kindness shown by the members of the courts in dealing with the appellants. While sympathizing with the general remarks of those speakers, and very largelv with the motion also, he could not agree that they should consider simply the letter of the documents in the case. They should, he thought, consider the pleading in their own courts. It was true of all the courts of the Church, but especially of this Assembly, that it should deal with matter., i» the broadest and most generous Chris- tian spirit. I think, he went on, that in this light we are of accord with these brethren in the views we cherish in regard to the Christian life. We all hold it as the blessed privilege of every child of God to carry in his bosom a sense of peace with God, that there is now no condemnation ; and, further, I hope we agree that the child of God has the victory over sin in its power by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are at one in recognizing that the condition for entering upon this glorious experience is simply entire consecration of God. Then we are quite at one with them in the result that flows from these privil- eges — that joy which is the strength cf God's people. But, in order to realize these advantages, we must carry with us day by day a deep sense of our dependence upon the blood of Christ. I shall not analyze sin; that has been well done by Dr. Middlemiss and Dr. McLaren. I have a deep impression that these dear brethren are very near to us in their sentiments if .we could understand one another. Dr. McLaren mentioned that it was not a very high attainment to be free from cherish- ing sin in volition. But I go further and say that it is not a very high attainment for a Christian to rise superior to a sense of the rising of sinful desires looked at as positive transgressions of the law. Does that destroy the necessity of continually feeUng our need of relying wholly upon the blood of Christ ? By no means. The standard we have in view is absolute and entire perfection. Find out how deep is this influence which we call original sin, and tlie more we look at it the more we will be inclined to agree with Dr. Doddridge. " The best prayer I ever prayed to God in imy life deserves damnation." The motion goes much in the line of my own sentiments, but there is something here (laying his hand on his heart) that rather rebels against it, and I would like some other step taken. I quite sympathize with the Session of Knox Church. If these brethren were pursuing divisive cosr^es, so as to interfere wfth the harmony of the congregation, they should have been disciplined. I move in amendment. 80 That this case be referred to a committee, to be appointed by the Moderator, and this committee be instructed to bring in a report upon the case, such am the Assembly may take action upon at next or at a future sederunt. At all events, that is a very safe kind of thing — (laughter)— it will not hurt anybody. Bev. Dr. Laidlaw, of Hamilton, seoonded the resolution in ameiid- ment. If we were simply to sustain the appeal, he said, we would be liable to place our Ohnron in a position before the world in which she would be misunderstood and misunderstood concerning something vital to her welfare as a Church. Gontinuing, he pointed oat that the appel- lants had in part fallep from the record. In that part to which they^ held the decision of the lower courta might be upheld and a commission might be appointed to instruct these brethren as to the attitude of the Church in relation to those matters in which they seemed to have di£B- oulties. In reply to some murmurs of dissent he said he b )lieved th» AssemMy could not have a nobler work to do than in thus instruciiing even a few brethren. It was decided on appeal to the chair that this was not an amend- ment to the motion ana must be voted on as a substantive motion before the resolution proper was taken up. Bev. Principal Forrest thought that there would be no time for a. committee to report before next year. If this wap to be referred to a committee it should have been done before two days had been spent upon it. He thought no committee could take the responsibility of formulating a judgment on such a matter as this if the Assembly could not. Bev. Dr. Duval contended that the Assembly was forging weapons to be used in the future. Simply to s.istain the judgment of the lower courts would not place the Church^olearly on record before the Christian people of the country. Bev. Prof. Mac Vicar thought Dr. Ure's speech was an excellent one iu support, not of Dr. Ure's motion, bit of Dr. Laing's. To seek for a. special deliverance seemed to him to overlook a certain book with which they were familiar, which covered as good a deliverance on this subject- as they were likely to draw. If they sent the matter to a committee the position of the Church would be one of acknowledgment that a specif^ deliverance was necessary. If the Session was at fault, let it so h& stated ; if not, it would be almost a calamity to leave it open to the inference that any Session had acted wrongly in such a case. Tliougb the reference to a committee seemed a simple and easy way of dealing with the matter, thirty years' experience in Church courts h&d taught him that generally this was not the true way to deal with subjects of this kind. Bev. Dr. King supported Dr. Ure's resolution. He spoke in terma of the highest praise of the statements of the representatives of the Presbytery of Quelph, Dr. Middlemiss and the Synod of Toronto and Kingston, Dr. McLaren, for their force and clearness and for their Chris- tian spirit. He (Dr. King) was not largely actuated by what the public might think, feeling that people could not judge him harshly if he but tried to do his duty. There seemed to him important diffe^nces be- tween the position of the appellants, as shown by the documents and that 81 shown by their explanaiiona on the door. He went on: — When a yonng lady stands np and says that " surrendering myself to Ood, I feel my whole nature so gnided by His Spirit that when at the close of the day, in a kind of onstomary way I begt)i to confess sin, my conscience checked me and told me I should rather give thanks and praise to God," surely if that be an error it is not one on the basis of which we should turn people out of the Church. Tk«.s statement was met with applause which the Moderator sought to cheek, and of the impropriety of which, in a judicial case of this kind, he at a later stage reminded the Commissioners. Dr. King — Mark, mark, I believe it wrong. It is part of my humble duty in Manitoba to teach ethics. I have a text book written by a dis- tinguished professor in the University of Edinburgh, a fellow-student of my own. who says " Moral quality is only predicable of acts of volition." I think he is wrong. I teach that he is wrong ; but are you going to turn people out of the Church because they have in the matter of sin the same views as Dr. Oalderwood, of Edinburgh ? (Laughter and applause. ) You know that the holding of certain doctrines consistent with the Standards of the Church has never been made a tern* of membership in the Presbyterian Church, and I hope it never will. It was their teaching of these dooti'inos that was held to justify removing them from member- ship. After considering other minor points Dr. King proceeded : There is a great deal that is good in the spirit these brethren have shown, and we should try to j^uido it in the wisest way in a more judicious direction. One of them is said to have taught these doctrines in the Sunday School. The Pession must control the teaching in the Sunday School, and it seems to me it would have been better to prevent the brethren teaching in any Church meetings until they had changed their views. If we could in some way get a deliverance sustaining, so far as the records are con- cerned, the deliverance of the Synod and yet refusing 'to proceed with the exclusion of these appellants and having some further dealings with them, I would cherish the hope that the Church might yet receive benefit from their influence and teaching and that they might receive benefit from the CI irch's guidance. The yeas and nays were taken on the amendment to refer the case to a Select Committee. Yeas, 75 ; nays, 90. The Assembly then adjourned, the hour having arrived. June 19, 1889, 9.30 a.m. The Moderator then asked Dr. McMallen to take the chair, as the " Gait Heresy Case " was next on the order papers. Dr. McMullen explained the stage which the case had reached. The Moderator had been handed a paper by the appellants, and asked advice from ^he Assembly as to what action should be taken in reference thereto. A great deal of desultory discussion was indulged in as to the proper method to be followed and parties were recalled. In answer to calls of " read " from the members the Moderator read the paper, which was as follows : — * Mb. MoDEBATOi: and Bbbtqrbh, — On behalf of the appellants we desire to state that, as far as our intentions coald make it pos- sible, we have been loyal members of oar Chureh, and have endeav- ored to labor toi its prosperity, and are quite willing to abide by any decision that may be arrived at in the interests of peaoe and harmony and the prosperity of our Church, provided this decision does not rob us of our joy in Ood through the Holy Ghost which is given unto us, and the privilege to tell to others the glad news of Gospel truth. It was mentioned yesterday that it might be advisable to allow us to retain our membership .in the Church of our choice, but to debar us from being teachers. As touching this point, we have to say that we have no inclination at this time to request being allowed to become teachers in the Sabbath School or in the congregational prayer meeting ; but would like to understand what our privileges would be, were we allowed to retain connection with our Church. Would we be deprived the privilege of reading a scripture lesson, taking part in prayer or testimony ? What latitude would be given us ? If permitted to take part in any of the exercises at any meeting, we will in the future as in the past acknowledge the authority of the chair, and should we say anything which might be considered by such authority not to be in harmony with the truth as held by our Church, it would be a simple matter for him to check us, and we would quietly resume our seats. We cannot see what more could be gained by not allow- ing us to retain all the privileges of Church membership. Yours faithfully, J. K. AND J. D. CRiNSTOM, On behalf of the Appdlanti. Immediately on the reading of the paper being finished, fully a dozen members were on the floor, each calling at the top of his voice, " Mr. Moderator," etc. The voice of President Forrest could be heard above the din, crying that if these people had oflTered to take this course before this trouble would have been avoided. Bev. Mr. Jackson said the Session had time and again offered to restore the appellants if they would agree to desist from preach- ing their views, but they refused. He said that it was absurd to ask that the chairman of prayer meeting should rebuke them if they made a misstatement. Mr. Moodie asked if they wanted to retain their membership, and still teach their doctrines outside the church. Mr. J. D. Cranston thought this had been made snfSciently dear in the paper. Mr. Moodie pressed for "Yes*' or "No." Mr. J. E. Cranston thought, as Dr. Ure and others pointed out yesterday, the difference, if any, between the teachings was very slight. They were substantially the same. 83 Mr. Moodie held that the evidence showed very different. Dr. King had been delighted with the lint part of the paper. He thought there was a strong desire shown for an amicsble setth- ment, bat three or foor words had spoilt the whole thing. They promised to be obedient " in the future as in the past." It had been shown that their conduct towards the Session had not been obedient in the past. Was the measure of obedience in the future to be the same as in the past ? Mr. J. D. Cranston claimed that they had been obedient ini the {)ast. On one occJEtsion he arose in the prayer meeting and asked eave to read a scriptural lesson. The leaaer asked him bis object in reading the verses. He promised not to make one word of com- ment if allowed to read the verses, that the object was not for con- troversy, but was refused, and he immediately resumed his seat. Mr. Moodie again pressed his question. Did they claim the right to promulgate their peculiar views while members of the Presbyterian Church? Mr. J. D. Cranston claimed the privilege of preaching the truth, either to an individual or to a body of people, as Qod had revealed it to him, but if at any time he yras told that that was not in accord with Presbvterian teaching he would take his seat. Mr. J. K. Cranston was quite willing not to teach any dogmatic views concerning " inbeing sin," as he did not consider they were essential. The one thing they desired to teach was the necessity of receiving the promise of the Father the Comforter and walking in the Spirit, then the sin question would settle itself. There being no farther questions to ask, the Moderator enquired if the paper would be considered one of the documents of the case, when it was decided not to so consider it. Bev. Dr. Cochrane then moved the following resolution, which was seconded by Mr. Ball : — " Dismiss the appeal, and sustain the decision of the Synod and other courts, by which the appellants are suspended from Church privileges in terms of the judgment of the primary court. But in view of the fact that the statements and answers given by the appellants on the floor of the Assembly differ, in the judgment of many, in several important i>oints, from the categorical answers contained in the prmted minutes, and which were given tc the Session before suspension ; and further, in view of the earnestly expressed desire on the part of the appellants to continue to enjoy the privileges of membership in the Presby-. terian Church, and that their conciliatory attitude before the courts gives hopes that they may now reconsider their position, and desist in future from propagating their peculiar views, the Assembly appoint the following assessors, to act with the Kirk Session of Knox Church, Gait, to meet with and deal further with appellants, should they so desire, with a view to their restoration to the fellowship of the Church." In speaking to his resolution Dr. Cochrane said that he would M eonsider it a calamity if tbe decisions of the lower eonrts were reversed by tbe Assombly. It bad been sbown that the views of the appellants do differ materially from thoae of the Church. He thought that while the appellants should be dealt with in all kind- ness, yet tbe disciplitte of the Church must be maintained. The Assembly had the interests of the Church at large to look after. He would like to leave the way open for the restoration of the appellants to membership. His own opinion was that they did not know just what they believed. That they had, it seemed to him, stated one thing and on the same day denied the very same thing. If he held views differing from the body to which he belonged he would refuse to have his mouth muzzle following statement : — I 3 Mil. Moderator and Brethren, — On be-half of tin* appi'Mants pel niit UM toHay, now that this case has been deci«lud a;^aiust iim in tlu' various courts of our Church, and no further appeal bein;jf possible. we have to say that it must bo very apparent to those vrUo hiwv been watching this cose that the decision which has been arrived at hos been based on the records, meaning by that the answers given before the Session, and assessors of Knox Church, ( Jalt, at the inquisitorial trial where we were practically confined to Yes and No answers, as has since l)een admitted by members of that court. And wo cannot help but think that injustice has U'tu done tu by the majority of this Assembly. Our views wo have stated fully, and fondly hoped, with Drs. lire, Laidlaw, Duval, King and others, that a broad, generous Christian view of the case wonM have been taken, as we as Presbyterians are substantially in accord with tho principles and doctrines of our Church. However, we Itow to the decisicm of the highest court of our Church, believing, as we all do, thatOod's hand is in everything. In tho future, as in the past, we shall, as far as our intentions can make it possible, be loyal al- herents as in the past we have endeavored to bo loyal members of our church. Thanking you on behalf of the appellants, J. K. AND J. D. Cranston. THE SESSION BEARD FROM. Bev. Mr. Jackson — Permit me to say that the Session and officers of Knox Church, Gait, are deeply grateful to the brethren of the Presbytery, the Synod and the Assembly for the interest and care with which they have considered this matter. I am also instructed to express deep regret that the time of the Assembly should be taken up by this matter, and to give the assurance that everything will be done in the Session that can be wished and by all the brethren who have spoken on the floor of the Assembly, and that tbe assessors will always be consulted in this place, that is, the assessors of the Presbytery. We hope to show that Knox Church is grateful for the kindness of the Assembly. Bev. Dr. McMullen — I am exceedingly thankful that this pro* traoted case is now closed. I have endeavored to discharge the duties of the Chair with the utmost impartiality. I am glad now, .1 assure yon, to give place to the Moderator. 86 REMARKS. We deem it only due to all parties conceme i to make a few concluding remarks concerning the ' appellants in their present attitude as adherents in the Presbyterian Church. It would be reasonable to ask the question, Why don't they leave altogether the services of this Church and unite with some other branch of the Christian Church more in harmony with their views of doctrine ? Now they frankly admit that this would be the proper, the honorable course to adopt, did they fully acquiesce in tne findings of the Assembly as true to facts in their case. But in spite of this decision, and in spite of all the arguments used by m. fibers of the different courts, they are still unshaken in their belief that they are substantially in accord with the doc- trines of the Presbyterian Church. Dr. Ure struck the true note in the following words : " He had, however, a very deep impression that these dear brethren and sis- ters we] very much more closely allied to them in sentiment at the bottom, if they could only get at the bottom of each other's minds in regard to these matters. ' Yes, bui can this note of harmony really be found ? Well, they are prepared to wait in the firm belief that it will be found. They can account largely for the vote of the Assembly by the mutual misunderstandings concerning the nature of sin. The apparent lack of frankness, as evinced in our unwillingness to give Yes or No answers to searching questions concerning this ' atricate subject, was wholly interpreted against them. The fact that their questioners had no difficulty in giving such ansTrers themselves, must have seemed proof positive to some minds that there Avas something wrong. Now this seeming want of frankness can be accounted for in two ways. In the first place, they had no clearly defined opinions concerning the line of demarcation between actual transgression — that which needs definite confession and forgiveness ore there can be peace with God and genuine hope of heaven — and that which, whether under the name of inbred sin, original sin, or sins of ignorance, does not call for definite confession or distinct acts of pardon, whatever may be believed or not believed concerning generalized confession or acknowledgment before God. Now, no man with any pretentions to ordinary wisdom is prepared to give Yes or No answers concerning any subject about which he has no clearly defined conviction or knowledge. In the second place, they are well apprised of the fact that one of the generally understood difiterences between the teaching of Calvinism and Arminianism is concern ing this very thing, l^ny holiness teachera of the Arminian class lay great stress on inbred sin as some entity that is taken out of the believer when entirely 87 sanctified, and hence these questions, if answered without explana- tions, were calculated either to involve them in admitting condemna- tion for actual sin when it did not exist, or on the other hand to make them seem to have adopted the Arminian views above mentioned when they were conscious that they had not. They belie^fe that the Assembly were simply voting against the Arminian doctrine, believing that they discovered traces of it, if not the whole, in their answers. They again and again tried to show that they confined them- selves, as far as intention went, in their teaching and experience to that which was accepted as truth by all, viz., the gift and offices of the Holy Spirit ; and the fact that no exception was taken to this teaching or experience proves to them that the whole issue turned on a subject concerning which they are certain that only misunderstandings exist, and not actual differences of opinion. True it is that they witness to a decidedly improved Christian experience and life as the result of recognizing more fully the personality and offices of the Spirit, and true it is also that this improved spiritual life is calculated to awaken attention and often antagonism. It is really a disturbing element in Church life ; for thereby inactive Christians who desire not to be spiritual are awakened from their sleep of carnal security. Members of the Church who strive to cover up any form of sin, and those who are unwilling to rectify wrong as a genuine mark of repentau..e, must and will find fault with it, and hence there will be, there must bcy apparent trouble. Now, this surface trouble naturally alarms many others, not of these classes mentioned, and hence widespread uneasiness arises from the simple fact that a stronger type of spiritual life is exhibi- ted than that with which the Church is familiar, as a whole, and this accounts for a general desire for peace at any price. But they rest in the belief that as time goes on and the pre- dictions of tiie timid or of the rigidly orthodox concerning fana- ticism and other forms of evil are not fulfilled, there will be a reconsideration of the whole subject to the advantage of all concerned. That they have secured their heart's desire in Christian experi- ence they are well assured of, and ask no snap judgment from any, the result of sympathy or partiality, so they advise all, Be not hasty in judging of this thing. " Prove all things. Hold fast that which is good." An analysis of the voting makes its appear to all agaiust haste in this matter. True it is that there is a recorded vote of but seven in their favor, whilst 128 voted against ^hem. But it will be noticed that, on the motion to send the case to a committee, 165 voted, so that at least thirty-seven refrained from voting finally against them. If the experience they claim of " righteousness, peace and joy 88 in the Holy Ghost," as an unbroken, continuous fact from day to day and year to year, is really a possibility in life, it is decidedly worthy of the utmost efforts to secure it as a positive possession. This their experience has been tried and stood the test to their satisfaction in times of comparative success. Perhaps it needs the furthertestof ^parent failure. So thev invite others with ourselves to examine i*nd observe. If it be of man, it will not bear the strain ; if of God, no weapon found against it can prosper. From the Presbijteriun Review, June 27th, 1889. THE GALT APPEAL CASE. [editorial.] The business part of the three days of the General Assembly time was occupied in hearing tho appeal of James K. Cranston and others against the decision of the Synod of Toronto and Kingston, by which some excellent men and women were suspended from church privileges by the Session of Knox Church, Gait. To some ic may seem to have been a waste of time, ♦ ♦ * nevertheless, the importance of the subject required that it should be carefully considered by the supreme court of appeal. The pati- , ence of the court and the kind and brotherly tone of all the speeches were not more noticeable than the respectful demeanor of the appel- lants. We cannot but hope that the result of this case of discip- line will result for good in many ways to all concerned. To prevent misconception it is our duty to state that while the appellants are not, in the opinion of the Church, right in the peculiar views, which they hold, no court of the Church has allowed any charge of unworthy — far less immoral — conduct to be made against them. They may be deceived as to their experience, but their outer life and- conduct are in no way impunged, and we might go further and say, are admitted to be unimpeachable. Now, as Dr. Ure said, is the doctrinal divergence very wide ? and the editor might have added, as Dr. Ure said : " If at all, but he had a deep impression that these dear brethren and sisters are very near to us in their sentiments if we could just underatand one another and get at the bottom of one another's hearts." We think that beneficial results will come from this most in- teresting discussion. ' ^vm m tttinnn ; Mil fm thvt whUh i$ ^aol'-i Thess. v.21 Expositor of Holiness A CANADIAN MONTHLY MAGAZINE PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE CANADA HOLINESS ASSOCIATION, DEVOTED TO HOLINESS AND EVANGEL- ISTIC WORK. ONE DOLL AB PEB YEAB IN ADVANCE. The Only Canadian Holiness Magazine. : CONTENTS. The definite experience of holiness discussed in all its aspects, not only by accredited Canadian writers, but also in selections from the best writers of all countries. <* OUR PLATFORM. 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