The General Assembly [pp. 511-546]

Reorganization of the Boards.
tended to claim for these an explicit "Thus saith the Lord."
The work of missions on this theory would be impracticable, for
it would be impossible to carry it out among heathen converts.
The church must have freedom to adapt herself to the varying
circumstances in which she is called to act. The great objection, however, to this new and extreme doctrine is, that it is
inconsistent with our Christian liberty, our liberty of con -
science. It inevitably leads to the imposition of human ordinances as the commandments of God. The inferences which
one draws from Scripture bind him, but they have no authority
for others. It is not only revolting, but ridiculous, to say that
the Bible forbids a Board and commands a Committee; that to
organize the one is rebellion, while to constitute the other is
obedience. And finally, as to this point, it was shown that
every objection urged on this high jus divinum theory against
the Boards, bears with equal force against Committees. The
one is no more enjoined than the other. The one can be just
as well inferred as the other. We have a work to do, and it is
admitted that we are to adopt the best means for doing it. If
we think a Board better, we may take that; if we think a
Committee better, we may take that. There is as much a
transfer of authority in the one case as in the other. A Committee is just as much an organization, acting of itself after the
appointing body ceases to exist, as a Board. The only difference between the Committee of Church Extension and the
Board of Missions is, that the one consists of some eighty or
ninety members, the other of thirty or forty. To make this
difference a matter of vital principle, a question of divine right,
the dividing line between rebellion and obedience, is utterly
unreasonable. But if it should be admitted that there is some
minute difference in principle between such a Committee as that
of Church Extension and a Board, what was to be said of the
Boards of our Theological Seminaries? No objection is made
to them, and yet they stand in the same relation to the Assembly as the Board of Missions. If the one is an organization
outside the church, so are the others. If the one has delegated
powers, so have the others. If the one is forbidden, so must
the others be. It is plain that this principle of divine prescription for every detail, cannot be, and is not carried out. 3. Dr.
1860.]
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