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A FEDERATION OF CHURCHES

DR. M’COSH OUTLINES A PLAN

To the Editor of the N.Y. Tribune

SIR: I cannot tell how glad I am in reading in the Tribune of to-day of the unanimous decision of the Presbytery of New York in regard to the revision of the Confession. When I uttered my opinion on the subject, in my Presbytery on October 1, I had no clear idea as to how Presbyterian sentiment was tending, and it was with considerable anxiety that I uttered my views as to what was right and wise in opposition to the majority of the brethren. How pleased I am that the Presbytery of New York has come to the same conclusion that I did. It is clear that we are to have the obnoxious passages in the Confession withdrawn in the course of a year or two, and that there is to be no new Confession sanctioned till the subject has been carefully weighed. It is now seen clearly by the public that there is to be no revolution or fundamental change in the Presbyterian Church. In the attempt to adjust our Standards I see the means of bringing about a Pan-Presbyterian Union.

But this is not all I look for. I hope that the Presbyterian churches, as they view the substantial agreement of the creed, will look with more favor on other evangelical churches, such as the Episcopalian, Reformed, Methodist and Baptist. If this does not issue immediately in a union, it may end in a federation like that of the United States. Let a federation be made, to secure that the whole country be divided into parishes or districts, and that each be provided with a Gospel minister, with a lay agency put

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under obligations to have the Gospel preached to every creature, young and old. To remove difficulties, it should be allowed to every minister to visit his people and do good in his neighbor’s district as well as his own. I will be glad to correspond with those who are ready to carry out this view. JAMES McCOSH.

Princeton, N.J.

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Here we see a fresh proof of the general and increasing tendency of the leaders of thought and action, among all the great sects of “Christendom,” toward the very union so clearly pointed out in Prophecy.

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— April, 1890 —