[^♦♦♦♦^MK*^{^^1^^^^ 
 
 •♦♦♦♦•I** 
 
 WHY? 
 WHEN? 
 WHAT? 
 
 %St 
 
 nSM. m 
 
 Cum&crlanb ipresbijtertanism. 
 
I,.. 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 e 
 
 
 
 00 (« 
 
 
 r-\ • 4:: 
 
 
 s ^ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 W • C-- 
 
 
 . ^^ C 
 
 
 0) 
 
 
 <N -^ 
 
 
 t- TJ ^ 
 
 
 <T> }-« 
 
 
 00 03 C^* 
 
 
 ^ >i 
 
 X o ^ 
 
 
 PQ W 15 
 
WHY? WHEN? WHAT? 
 
 A Bkief Statement ok the Origin, Progress, 
 
 AND Differentiating Doctrines of the 
 
 CuMBERi<AND Presbyterian Church. 
 
 J. M. HOWARD, D.D. 
 
 Designed for General Distribution, and especial!)' for the use of 
 the Christian Endeavor Societies of the Denomination. 
 
 NA8HV1LI.E, TENN. : 
 Cumberland Presbyterian Publisiiing House, 
 
Copyrighted, 1892, by the 
 
 Board of Publication of the Cumbt^rland Presbyterian 
 
 Church. 
 
A BRIEF ANSWER 
 
 TO " 
 
 The Questions, Why and When did the Cum- 
 berland Presbyterian Church Originate, 
 And What are its Distinctiye Beliefs ? 
 
 The Cumberland Presbyterian Church, though its first 
 Presbytery was not organized until 1810, had'its origin in 
 the revival of 1800. Th'is revival began in 1797 in Logan 
 county, Ky., under the ministry of the Rev. James Mc- 
 Oready of the Presbyterian Church. About 1796, in 
 western Pennsylvania, while a theological student, Mc- 
 Oready was awakened to see that though he was pre- 
 paring to preach to others, he was himself an unsaved 
 sinner. He sought and found pardon and life in Christ. 
 This experience led him to make the new birth a 
 principal theme of his preaching, and to labor to 
 arouse the unconverted within the Church as well as 
 on the outside. 
 
 In 1 796 he moved to Kentucky from North Carolina, 
 taking charge of three country congregations, Gasper 
 River, Red River, and Muddy River. The region was 
 known as the Cumberland country, which embraced that 
 part of the States of Tennessee and Kentucky lying be- 
 tween Green River on the north and the Tennessee 
 Ridge on the soutli, and reaching the Tennessee River on 
 the west. The scattered pioneers were immersed in the 
 absorbing worldly pursuits of the backwoods, felling for- 
 ests and opening farms. Spiritual life was at the lowets 
 
4 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ebb. Scoffing and worldliness prevailed, and the Church 
 lacked the spiritual power to resist these downward in- 
 fluences. .Much of tlie preaching in the Presbyterian 
 pulpits was a lifeless discussion of the decrees of God. 
 Many Church members and even some ministers were 
 destitute of vital piet}-. 
 
 Amid sufh surroundings McGready Ijegan his minis- 
 try. He wrote out a prayer covenant in which a few 
 members of his congregations joined him. It was in 
 these words : " We bind ourselves to observe the third 
 Saturday in each month, for one* year, as a day of fasting 
 and prayer for the conversion of sinners in Logan county 
 and throughout the world. We engage to spend one 
 half hour every Saturday evening, beginning at the set- 
 ting of the sun and one half hour every Sabbath morn- 
 ing at the rising of the sun, in pleading with God to 
 revive his work." The first signs of revival were seen 
 in the Gasper River Church, May, 1797. The interest 
 spread until tlie whole congregation and neighboring 
 congregations were awakened, and continued to extend 
 in ever-widening circles. Camp meetings, wdiich grew 
 to be so important a factor in evangelizing the scattered 
 settlers, had their origin in connection with this work. 
 The first one was held at Gasper River in July, 1800. 
 From it the revival influence spread far and wide 
 throughout the Cumberland country. 
 
 But even Church members and ministers opposed the 
 work. Rev. James Balch, a member of McGready 's 
 Presbytery (Transylvania), visited Gasper River to put a 
 stop to what he and others regarded the disorderly and 
 fanatical proceedings. He denounced McGready's teach- 
 ings, especially the doct-rine of " experimental religion." 
 
HISTOKICAL INTRODUCTION. O 
 
 Tlius there grew up an anti-revival party, and the con- 
 troversy thus engendered continued until the revival 
 party was driven from the Presbyterian Church and 
 forced to organize an independent Presbytery, which 
 ultimately grew into the Cumberland Presbyterian 
 Church, 
 
 One cause of opposition was the method adopted in 
 providing missionary pastors for the multiplying congre- 
 gations. By the advice of an aged minister in Transyl- 
 vania Presbytery, Rev. David Rice, men of piety and 
 talent, though they had not attained to the required 
 standard of literary qualification, were licensed as 
 exhorters and placed on " circuits." This was opposed 
 as irregular. The doctrines taught by the revivalists 
 were a deep'er cause of opposition. Exhortations urging 
 sinners to accept salvation freeh" offered to all were 
 looked upon as an imi^lied denial of the eternal decrees. 
 Moreover, the men licensed and afterward ordained were 
 permitted to adopt the AVestminster Confession with the 
 exception of "the idea of fatality." By fatality they 
 meant the doctrine that only an elect number have any 
 share in the benefits of the atonement. They could not 
 believe or teach that God from all eternitj'' foreordained 
 a certain number of men and angels unto eternal life 
 and foredoomed a nundDer equally definite and unchange- 
 able unto eternal death. This departure from the West- 
 minster teaching was considered positive heresy and 
 proved the one irreconcilable difference between the two 
 parties. 
 
 In October, 1802, Alexander Anderson, Finis Ewing, 
 and Samuel King, who, though lacking classical educa- 
 tion, were men of approved talents and piety, were 
 
6 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 
 
 licensed by Transylvania Presbytery to catechise and 
 exhort. Kentucky Synod soon after divided that Pres- 
 bytery, and the southern portion, embracing the Cum- 
 berland country, was named Cumberland Presbytery. 
 Five of the ten ministers composing this new Presbytery 
 were the friends of the revival and tive its bitter opposers. 
 The names of the former were James McGready, William 
 Hodge, William McGee, John Rankin, and Samuel Mc- 
 Adow. . By the addition of James Hawe the revival party 
 soon after acquired a majority of one. The ordination 
 of Anderson, Ewing, and King followed, increasing the 
 majority and making Cumberland Presbytery the eccle- 
 siastical representative and instrument of the revival. 
 The revival ministers came to be designated first as "the 
 majority of Cumberland Presbytery," then " the Cum- 
 berland party," and finally " the Cumberlands." In this 
 way the name of the new denomination had its origin. 
 
 In October, 1804, the minority of the Presbytery, led 
 by Rev. Thos. Craighead, carried their fight into the Ken- 
 tucky Synod, charging the majority witli ecclesiastical 
 irregularity and doctrinal unsoundness. The Synod 
 cited both parties to appear before it at its^next meeting, 
 and also appointed a committee "to attend the earliest 
 meeting of Cumberland Presbytery and inquire into the 
 case and report to the Synod." Xone of the revival 
 ministers obeyed the citation. They denied the Synod's 
 right to arraign presbyters before its bar or to interfere 
 with a Presbytery's prerogative in licensing and ordain- 
 ing ministers. 
 
 At the Synod's meeting in October, 1805, a commission 
 composed of nine ministers and six elders "clothed with 
 full synodical powers" was appointed "to confer with 
 
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. / 
 
 the members of Cumljerland Presbytery, and adjudicate 
 upon the presbyterial proceedings." Every member of 
 this commission was a known enemy of the revival and 
 the " Cumberland " party. It met at Gasper 'River 
 meeting house December 3, 1805. All the members of 
 the Cumberland Presbytery with the candidates and 
 hcentiates were present. The commission adopted a 
 paper solemnly condemning the Presbytery for licensing 
 young' men to preach and ordaining some who '' were 
 required to adopt the Confession of Faith and Discipline 
 of the Church no farther than they believed it to be 
 agreeable to the word of God," and it was resolved to 
 proceed then and there to examine these young men 
 and "judge of their qualifications for the gospel minis- 
 try." First the members of the Presbytery and after- 
 ward the young men refused to submit to this resolution^ 
 averring that the Presbytery had the exclusive right to 
 examine and license candidates, and was competent to 
 judge of their faith and ability, and that the Synod had 
 no right to take them out of its hands. The commis- 
 sion then rendered its verdict, declaring that the young 
 men never had regular authority to preach the gospel, 
 and solemnly prohibiting them from exhorting, jireach- 
 ing, or administering the ordinances. The older minis- 
 ters of the revival party were cited to trial before the 
 Synod at its next meeting, October, 1806. 
 
 Had this verdict been obe\'ed it would have put au 
 end to the revival by silencing the most effective revival 
 preachers But the members of the Presbytery resolved 
 to continue preaching as l)efore, and to encourage the 
 young men to persevere in their work, disregarding what 
 they believed an illegal prohibition. To secure united 
 
8 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 
 
 action in the work and in efforts to obtain redress, a 
 Council was formed made up of the ministers friendly to 
 the revival and elders representing congregations. This 
 Council held regular meetings, but refrained from the 
 exercise of any presbyterial functions. Under its direc- 
 tion the revival work was extended into distant neigh- 
 borhoods and missionary evangelists were sent to Ala- 
 bama and elsewhere. 
 
 William Hoflge and John Rankin attended the meet- 
 ing of Kentucky Synod, October, 1806, to plead for some 
 relief from-the commission's action, but the Synod pro- 
 ceeded solemnly to suspend them both from the ministry. 
 At the same meeting Cumberland Presbytery was for- 
 mally dissolved and the parties and their complaints 
 remanded to Transylvania Presbytery. 
 
 In 1807 and again in 1808 the members of the Council 
 sent earnest petitions to the General Assembly imploring 
 relief and the restoration of their presbyterial rights. 
 But the Assembly declined to act because the matter had 
 not come up by regular appeal. In 1808 a semi-official 
 letter prepared by order of the Assembly was sent to the 
 Council pronouncing the action of the commission un- 
 constitutional, and stating that the relief asked for could 
 have been granted had the Synod's minutes been before 
 the Assembly. An effort was next made by the 
 Council to secure reconciliation through Transylvania 
 Presbytery, but that body decided that no exception 
 concerning " fatality" would be allowed in adopting the 
 Westminster Confession. The revival ministers were 
 thus given their choice, to promise allegiance to what 
 seemed to them false doctrine or be shut out from their 
 rights as Presbyterian ministers. They chose the latter 
 alternative. 
 
HISHJKIC'AL INTKODLCTIOX. 9 
 
 In 1800 they again appealed to the General Asseniljly 
 for relief, but that body now voted unanimously to deny 
 their petition and to sustain the action of the commis- 
 sion and Kentucky Synod. This decision is now, more 
 than eighty years after the event, almost universally 
 admitted by Presbyterian ministers to be contrary to 
 Presbyterian law and usage. After this one more appeal 
 was made to the Synod, but this effort also failed, 
 tiiOugh the members of the Couucil offered to yield 
 everything that did not involve the abandoning the work 
 of the revival and the adoption of the " fatality" feature 
 of the creed. 
 
 At its meeting October 4, 1809, the Council voted to 
 organize an independent Presbytery, but at this junc- 
 ture three- of the ordained ministers, AVilliam Hodge, 
 Samuel Plodge, and Thomas Xelson withdrew, having 
 made terms with Transylvania Presbyter\' by consenting 
 to adopt the Westminster Confession without reservation. 
 This left but three ordained ministers, William McGee, 
 Finis Ewing, and Samuel King, present in the Council. 
 INIcGee was unwilling to go forward with the organiza- 
 tion; so, lacking the constitutional number to form a 
 Presbytery, the Council adjourned without taking the 
 desired action. 
 
 February 8, 1810, Finis Ewing and Samuel King, 
 accompanied by Ephraim McLean, a licentiate, repaired 
 to the home of Sanuiel McAdow in Dickson county, 
 Tenn., for the purpose of forming a new and independent 
 Presbytery. INIcAdow spent the whole night in prayer, 
 and in the morning of February 4 with face aglow 
 announced his readiness to join in the orgauizati(m. So 
 Cumberland Presbvterv was solemnlv constituted or 
 
10 HISTOKKAL INTllODLCTION. 
 
 reorganized. Its first act was to ordain Epliraim ]Mc- 
 Lean. It met again the next month, at wliich time sev- 
 eral congiTgations were represented and six Heensed 
 preachers and seven canchdates were received under its 
 care. At a meeting in the autumn Wilham McGee 
 became a member. 
 
 Three ami a half years after its organization the Pres- 
 bytery had so increased in extent and numbers as to 
 make its division into three Presbyteries and the forma- 
 tion of a Synod necessary. The Synod, which took the 
 name Cumberland Synod, at its first meeting appointed 
 a committee consisting of Finis Ewing, AVilliam McGee, 
 Robert Donnell, and Thomas Calhoun to prepare a Con- 
 fession of Faith. In the form of words adopted when 
 Cumberland Presbytery was organized three years befoiv 
 was this provision concerning the creed of the new 
 organization: "All licentiates and probationers who 
 may hereafter be ordained by this Presbytery shall l)e 
 required before such licensure or ordination to receive 
 and adopt the Confession and Discipline of the Presby- 
 terian Church, except the idea of fatality which seems 
 to be taught Under the mysterious doctrine of predesti- 
 nation. It is understood, however, that such as can 
 clearly receive the Confession without an exception shall 
 not be required to make any." In forming the Synod 
 the following points of dissent from the Westminster 
 Confession were made: 
 
 1. There are no eternal reprobates. 
 
 2. Christ died not for a part only, but for all mankind, 
 o. All infants dying in infancy are saved through 
 
 Christ and the sanctification of the Spirit. 
 
 4. The Spirit of God operates on the world, or as coex- 
 
llJSTOJilCAL IXTKODICTION, 11 
 
 tensively as Christ has made the atonement, in such a 
 manner an to leave all men inexcusable. 
 
 The committee appointed by the Synod to prepare a 
 creed siihply moditied the Westminster Confession, 
 expunging what they believed unscriptural and sui)ply- 
 ing what they thought omissions of vital truth. The 
 ])rin<'ipal changes were in chapters III. an<l X., and con- 
 sisted in the omission or modification of the statements 
 concerning the decrees of God, unconditional election 
 and reprobation, a limited atonement, and cognate doc- 
 trines. The Presbyterian polity and the evangelical 
 Presbyterian doctrines were retained. This revised Con- 
 fessi(m of Faith was adopted October 14, 1814, and con- 
 tinued to be the creed of tiie Church until 1883, when 
 tlie Confession presented in this volume was adopted. It 
 retains the same essential doctrines enunciated in tlie 
 revision of 1814, though in somewhat briefer form and 
 with a more logical arrangement. 
 
 In the matter of mmisterial education, while classical 
 training is not made an essential requirement, a liberal 
 course in the English branch^-s and in theology is required. 
 The founders of the Cumberland Presbytei-ian Church 
 shrank from adopting a standard that would have excluded 
 every one of the twelve apostles from the ministry. 
 They believed that some who are converted late in life 
 are called to preach, and that the strict Presbyterian rule 
 would prevent these from obeying God's call. They held 
 that some who never enjoyed the highest scholastic 
 training become eminently useful in the ministry. They 
 deemed it right, ratlier than to allow wide districts to 
 remain entirely destitute of the gospel, to send forth 
 sound teachers who loved souls and knew the wav of sal- 
 
12 HISTORICAL IXTROnrCIION. 
 
 Viitiun, even though they did not know Hebrew and 
 Greek. 
 
 But these fathers labored to secure for ministerial can- 
 didates the most thorough preparation possible. Schools 
 and academies w^ere established wherever the pioneer 
 missionaries planted Churches and formed Presbyteries. 
 In 1826 Cumberland College, an institution for the whole 
 denomination, was opened at Princeton, Ky. In 1842 
 this central school was removed to Lebanon, Tenn., and 
 named Cumberland University. The Church's Theolog- 
 ical Seminary is located here. Among other principal 
 schools of the denomination are Waynesburg College, 
 Pennsylvania ; Lincoln University, Illinois ; Trinity Uni- 
 versity, Texas; Missouri Valley College, Missouri, and 
 Arkansas Cumberland College, Arkansas. 
 
 The spirit and power of the revival were perpetuated in 
 the new Church. By 1820 the work had extended to 
 ^Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Arkansas, and ^Mississippi; 
 and in the years wdiich followed Churches grew up in 
 every State and Territory in the wide domain stretching 
 from Texas to Pennsylvania, and the missionaries of the 
 new denomination followed the tide of emigration west- 
 ward to the Pacific. 
 
 In 1829 a General Asseml^ly was formed with four 
 Synods and eighteen presbyteries. In 1834 10,088 con- 
 versions were reported. In 1835 the numerical strength 
 of the Church was estimated as follows: Synods, ^>; 
 Presbyteries, 35; ordained ministers, 300; licensed 
 preachers, 100; candidates, 75; communicants, 50,000. 
 The latest statistics (1892) place the number of communi- 
 cants at 171,009. There w'ere then. 2,916 congregations, 
 1,670 ministers, 270 licentiates, and 264 candidates. 
 
IIISTOUK \L INTKOlHrriON. 13 
 
 During the year -ending May, 1892, there were 14,862 
 additions, and tlie total contributions were $794,576. The 
 total value of Church property was estimated to be 
 $3,641,621. 
 
 Through Presbyterial Missionary Societies thisChurcii 
 began to send missionaries to the Indians in 
 1819. Through its board now located in St. Louis, :\ro., 
 missions have been established in Japan and Mexico 
 as well as among the Indians and in numerous towns and 
 cities in our own country. From a new Publishing 
 House at Nashville, Tenn., the Board of Publication issues 
 books, Sunday school papers, lesson' helps, and other 
 periodicals, including the Cumberland Preshyierkin Review 
 and the central weekly organ of the Church. Ike Cum- 
 herland Presbyterian. AVeekly papers owned and con- 
 ducted by individuals are published in the interest of the 
 Church at other points. 
 
 The Board of Education, located at Nashville, Tenn., 
 and the Board of ^linisterial Relief, located at Evans- 
 ville, Ind., are doing good work in their respective de- 
 partments, the former in aiding young men who are pur- 
 suing their studies preparatory to entering the ministry, 
 and the latter in providing for the wants of aged and dis- 
 abled ministers and the widows and orphans of deceased 
 ministers. 
 
 In 1880 a Woman's Board of ^Missions was organized. 
 It has sent missionaries to Japan and Mexico and con- 
 tril)uted largely to the Avork among the Indians. 
 
 This Ciiurch remained undivided during the civil war. 
 Before the war there were 20,000 colored Cumberland 
 Presbyterians. In 1869 the colored members asked and 
 received permission to be organized into a separate Afri- 
 
14 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 
 
 can Cumberland Presbyterian Church. This Church lias 
 its own General Asseuibly and in 1892 reported about 
 15,000 communicants and 200 ordained ministers. 
 
 The Cumberland Presbyterian Church has from the 
 first grown by making converts rather than by making 
 proselytes. It has grown through the efforts of mission- 
 aries to win souls outside of all Church lines. It has 
 ever been a helper of other Churches. Thousands of 
 converts won by its revival preachers have joined other 
 communions. Its influence in cultivating interdenomi- 
 national fraternity and softening doctrinal asperities has 
 been most salutary. The denomination seems to be 
 entering upon a new era of activity and to have before 
 it a growing mission of usefulness. 
 
Christian Endeavor Books. 
 
 A Decade of Christian Endeavor. 
 
 By Dwight M. Pratt. Cloth, 177 pp. :?;i.oo. 
 
 Endeavor Doin's Down to the Corners. 
 
 B\- Rev. J. F. Cowan. 3S7 pp. cloth. I1.50. 
 
 The Hossback Correspondence. 
 
 By Rev. Francis E. Clark, D.D., President 
 National V. P. S. C. E., cloth. 194 pp. fi.oo. 
 
 Aids to Endeavor. 
 
 By Rev. Francis E. Clark, D.D. Cloth, 200 
 pages. Price 75 cents. 
 
 Danger Signals. 
 
 By Rev. Francis E. Clark, D.D. Cloth, 192 
 pages. Price 75 cents. 
 
 Some Christian Endeavor Saints. 
 
 By Rev. Francis E. Clark, D.D. Beautifnlly 
 bound in steel gray clo'.h. silver letters and 
 border. 247 pages. Price fr.oo. 
 
 Ways and Means. 
 
 By Rev. Francis E. Clark, D.D. 340 pages. 
 Best cloth binding, fi.25. 
 
 Send for Special Circular on C. E. Reading Course. 
 
 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN PUBLISHING HOUSE, 
 
 NASHVILLE. TENN. 
 
SUPPLiIES. 
 
 Topic Cards. 
 
 Pledge Cards. 
 Secretary's Books. 
 Treasurer's Books. 
 
 Christian Endeavor 
 Song Books. 
 
 Topics and Daily 
 Readings. 
 
 Wall Pledges. 
 
 SUPPLIES FOR 
 
 THE 
 COMIVIITTEES. 
 
 LOOKOUT. 
 PRAYER MEETING. 
 GOOD LITERATURE. 
 SUNDAY SCHOOL. 
 SOCIAL. 
 MISSIONARY, 
 AND OTHERS. 
 
 Also JUNIOR SUPPLIES. Write for price lists. 
 
 C. p. C. E. PINS. 
 
 Size No. i or Senior. 
 SOLID GOLD, - - - |r.25 each, postpaid. 
 
 SOLID SILVER, - - - -35 " 
 
 Size No. 2 or Junior. 
 
 SOLID GOLD, ... - each $1.00 
 
 COIN SILVER, ... " .30 
 
 CORINTHIAN SILVER, - - - " .25 
 
 We can furnish any of the C. E. Pins also. 
 
 G. P. PUBLISHING HOUSE, Nashville, Tenn. 
 
MAKERS 
 
 SYRACUSE. - H.Y. 
 
 PAT. JAN. 2i,i»oe i Princeton Theological Seminary Libraries 
 
 1 1012 01217 0553 
 
T)t. S.M, Nee\ 
 
 h 
 
 y 
 
 
 BX 
 
 8976 
 
 .Y68 
 
 1907 
 
^•. %. 0' 
 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 % 
 
 8976 .Y68 1907 
 
 1 
 
 aq, 
 
 r Bennett 
 
 Henderson, 
 
 43- 
 
 ■1919 
 
 
 
 S. 
 
 M. Neel, 
 
 the 
 
 self- 
 
 PO] 
 
 .nted Moses of 
 
 the 
 
DR. S. M. NEEL, 
 
 THE SELF-tPPOme MOSES 
 
 of the 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 SOUTHERN CHUfifeH. 
 
 ^^ 
 
 .■.<s^- 
 
 BEING A RESPC^SE TO .\^y 
 
 DR. NEEI^'S 
 ENT 
 
 PC^SE TO 
 
 :>r^^ 
 
 <^' 
 
 ^^ 
 
 
 Col. Yoite^s S^-Q^fed F^$ly " 
 
 4 
 
 .A^" 
 
 h5^ 
 
 «^ 
 
 
 $>^" 
 
 COL. BENNETT H. YOUNG, 
 
 LOUISVILLE, KY.