The Affirmation

The Presbyterian General Assembly at Indianapolis (TIME, May 19) took steps to oust Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick from a New York pulpit. They began by insisting that every preacher in a Presbyterian church should accept, word for word, five "essentials of faith" (Virgin Birth, etc.).

For many months a committee of divines, headed by Dr. Murray S. Howland of Buffalo, has been preparing a protest. It was issued last week in the form of "An Affirmation," which, summarized, is:

PREAMBLE: We accept the Westminster Confession of Faith.

SECTION I:

a) The Confession of Faith does itself disclaim infallibility, saying "All synods, or councils, since the apostles' times . . . may err . . . and many have erred. . . . God alone is Lord of the conscience and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men ... so that to believe such doctrines is to betray true liberty of conscience."

b) Literal infallibility of the Bible is not asserted by the Bible nor by the Confession of Faith nor the Apostles' Creed nor the Nicene Creed nor any of the great Reformation confessions. Therefore, the General Assembly of 1923 erred in asserting that "the Holy Spirit did so inspire, guide and move the writers of Holy Scripture as to keep them from error."

SECTION II: Church doctrine is determined by the General Assembly and the presbyteries. Therefore, the General Assembly of 1923, by declaring certain doctrines to be "essential," was attempting to amend the Constitution of the Church in an unconstitutional manner.

SECTION III: The General Assembly of 1923 condemned the preaching of Dr. Fosdick, without hearing his case and without the method of conference, patience and love enjoined by Jesus Christ.

SECTION IV: "We all believe from our hearts that the writers of the Bible were inspired of God; that Jesus Christ was God manifest in the flesh; that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, and through Him we have our redemption; that, having died for our sins, He rose from the dead and is our ever-living Saviour; that in His earthly ministry He wrought many mighty works, and by His vicarious death and unfailing presence He is able to save to the uttermost." But we differ and insist upon the right to differ on how all this happened.

SECTION V: "We do not desire liberty to go beyond the teachings of evangelical Christianity."

SECTION VI: We don't want to oust anybody. We don't want anybody to try to oust us. Let's get together.

Among the signers of the affirmation: H. B. Allen, Marengo, la.

William H. Black, President of Missouri Valley College.

Harold Leonard Bowman, Portland, Ore.

James E. Clarke, Editor Presbyterian Advance.

Henry S. Coffin, Manhattan.

Ralph Marshall Davis, Chicago.

George Arthur Frantz, Van Wert, Ohio.

Robert Freeman, Pasedena.

Tesse Halsey, Cincinnati.

John Grier Hibben, President, Princeton University.

Paul R. Hickok, Troy, N. Y.

A. P. Higley, Cleveland.

George Clifton Hitchcock, Bowling Green, Mo.

Murray Shipley Rowland, Buffalo.

William Philip Lemon, Minneapolis.

Edwin A. McAlpin, Jr., Madison, N. J.

William P. Merrill, Manhattan.

Robert Hastings Nichols, Auburn Theological Seminary.

Harry Lathrop Reed, Auburn Theological Seminary.

Charles Lee Reynolds, Newark.

Arthur L. Rice, Klamath Falls, Ore.

William L. Sawtelle, Scranton.

Matthew F. Smith, Indianapolis.

George B. Stewart, President, Auburn Theological Seminary.

Warren S. Stone, Rochester, N. Y.

Paul Moore Strayer, Rochester, N. Y.

Henry van Dyke, Moderator of General Assembly of 1902, Princeton, N. J.

Tertius van Dyke, Manhattan.

Joseph H. Varner, Bear Creek, Mont.

Thomas A. Wigginton, Evansville, Ind.