Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 47:188 (Oct 1890)
Article: Scripture Or Logic—Which?
Author: Presbyterian Minister

BSac 47:188 (Oct 1890) p. 669

Scripture Or Logic—Which?

A. Presbyterian Minister

THE whole church of Christ has an interest in the subject which is under discussion in the Presbyterian Church— that of making some changes in the Confession of Faith; for the Westminster Confession is not the exclusive property of the Presbyterian Church, and the system of doctrine taught therein exerts a mighty influence far beyond the limits of that church. Without a doubt, evangelical Christians generally were gratified, when the answer “yes” was returned by nearly two-thirds of two hundred and eleven presbyteries to the question, “Do you desire a revision of the Confession of Faith?” And everybody was well pleased with the unanimity of the General Assembly in responding favorably to that vote by the appointment of a committee of twenty-five ministers and elders, to formulate such alterations and amendments to the Confession of Faith as in their judgment might be desirable. But perhaps not all thoughtful persons were so well pleased with the injunction added by the Assembly, “This Committee on Revision are hereby instructed that they shall not propose any alterations or amendments that will in any way impair the integrity of the Calvinistic system of doctrine taught in the Confession of Faith.”

That system, just so far as it is logical, is the very thing that is objectionable, in the light of the Holy Scripture. An orderly statement of the most important truths contained in the Bible is of course a desideratum, and could not but be useful. There can be no objection to a system of doctrine drawn from the Scriptures, using the word “system” in the

BSac 47:188 (Oct 1890) p. 670

sense of an orderly arrangement. But if no truths are to be admitted into the Confession but those which are logically connected, that is, reconcilable with each other by human reason, the Confession must necessarily be unscriptural. For all Christians, including the strictest Calvinists, admit that the Scriptures contain statements which are not logically connected, and which cannot be fully harmonized, by any light we have at present.

A perfectly logical system of theology is, therefore, an impossibility. Calvinistic writers, when treating of the decrees of God, as related to the freedom of man, labor to show the utter futility of human logic, when applied to divine things, and the necessity we are under of believing statements which are by us irreconcilable with each other, if each is reasonable in itself, and sustained by Scripture. But if a logical system is, in the nature of things, impossible; and if the system taught in the old Confession is not logical throughout, why should the Presbyterian General Assembly enjoin it upon the Committee on Revis...