Historic Documents in American Presbyterian History
THE ECCLESIASTICAL TRIAL
OF DR. J. GRESHAM MACHEN,
FEBRUARY-MARCH, 1935
Newsclipping from the Henry
Welbon collection - (news copy text reproduced here:)
The Rev. Dr. J. Gresham Machen, "fundamentalist"leader,
at left, is conferring with his counsel, Rev. H. McCallister Griffiths,
also of Philadelpha. Dr. Machen is being tried on six charges
relating to his support of the Independent Board for Presbyterian
Foreign Missions. |
Members of the Judicial
Commission appointed by the New Brunswick Presbytery to try
Dr. Machen in the First Presbyterian Church, Trenton. William A.
Cooley, the Rev. Dr. Cordie J. Culp and the Rev. Edward A. Morris
are seated left to right. Standing, left to right are the Rev. William
T. Magill, Trenton; John A. Hankinson, Dr. Harry B. Kummel and the
Rev. John E. Kuizegna, chairman. |
"The trial itself took place at a
series of sessions during February and March, 1935. First of all the
defense unsuccessfully challenged the right of various members of the
judicial commission to sit in judgment. Dr. J. Cordie Culp, the moderator,
was a signer of the Auburn Affirmation; Dr. John E. Kuizenga
was a member of the Princeton Faculty, and in view of the recent Princeton
history hardly an objective judge. Thereupon the question of jurisdiction
was argued but once again the defendant's position was not sustained.
But these reverses were nothing compared with that which developed at
the third session when the commission, following Machen's solemnly entered
plea of "Not Guilty" to all the charges, ruled that it would
not admit evidence bearing on several crucial matters. It would not
accept or hear any arguments concerned with the Auburn Affirmation,
with the question of the soundness of the Board of Foreign Missions,
or with the history of the Princeton-Westminster controversy, and thus
it ruled out much of the argument that Machen was prepared to present
in defense of his position. But these rulings were still mild compared
with the amazing ruling that it could not accept or regard any arguments
questioning the legality of the Assembly's mandate. Thus with one stroke
Machen was denied the right of having his day in court to prove that
the order which he disobeyed was an unlawful order. It remains almost
incredible that a Presbyterian court should thus have flouted the most
elementary principles of justice. That it happened can only be attributed
to a shocking disregard of the basic Protestant principles that God
alone is Lord of the conscience and that the Scriptures are the only
infallible rule of faith and practice by which all controversies are
to be judged."
[-Stonehouse, Ned B., J. Gresham Machen: A Biographical
Memoir (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1954), pages 490-491.]
The Ecclesiastical Trial of Dr. J. Gresham Machen
What follows is a reproduction of a news clipping
from an unidentified paper, providing a contemporary account of the ecclesiastical
trial of Dr. J. Gresham Machen in 1935:
PRESBYTERIANS TO DISCIPLINE ACTING ELDER
__________________
Assembly Orders Synod To Act Against J.E. Bennett, Of N.Y.
__________________
REFUSED TO QUIT INDEPENDENT BOARD
__________________
Dr. Machen's Group Loses New Move; Church Rift Widened
__________________
[By the Associated Press]
Syracuse, N.Y., June 1 -- The one hundred and forty-eighth assembly
of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. ordered disciplinary action today
against a New York city acting elder for his participation on the Independent
Board of Foreign Missions, a fundamentalist group. The assembly instructed
the Synod of New York to instigate action against James E. Bennett, New
York lawyer, for his refusal to resign from the independent organization.
Previously the Presbytery of New York had refused to act.
Formed by Dr. Machen
Formation of the independent board in 1924 by the Rev. Dr. J. Gresham
Machen, of Philadelphia, rivaling the officially recognized group, precipitated
a fight between fundamentalists and modernists. Dr. Machen and several
associates already have been tried on charges of refusing to resign from
the board, decisions in which are expected to be handed down by the judicial
committee either tomorrow or Wednesday.
Told To Quit Quarreling
The 1,000 clergymen and laymen attending the assembly heard an appeal
today to quit "quarreling about how you interpret the Bible and make
God known to the children." Offered in the form of a floor motion,
the appeal came form David Bogue, of Portage, Wis., an elder, after several
hours discussion on various subjects, participated in by fundamentalists
and modernists.
Wild Applause Given
The assembly broke into wild applause. The motion was referred to the
general council for consideration. Only a few moments before the assembly
heard the Rev. Robert L. Vining, of Mifflinburg, Pa., criticize the Board
of Christian Education for distributing literature "saturated with
modernism and typical of much of the literature published by the Board
of Christian Education." The Rev. Mr. Vining mentioned these booklets
specifically. They were titled "Christian Beliefs" and "A
Survey of New Testament History," by Eliot Porter, widely used in
Presbyterian conferences, and a primary teachers' pamphlet. The Pennsylvania
minister attempted to amend the board's program for the coming year to
eliminate "such expressions of modernism," but the assembly
voted to refer the motion to committee.
Vote Is Delayed
The fundamentalist minority suffered a further setback when the assembly
refused an immediate vote on its proposal to restrict members of the Board
of Christian Education "to only such members who are faithful to
the doctrinal standards." The proposal, drafted by the fundamentalists
headed by the Rev. Dr. Machen, was referred to the committee on policy.
Long Delay Seen
This action, it was pointed out, generally means a deferment of consideration
for at least another year, or may "pigeon hole" the measure
for all time. The fundamentalists sought to instruct the Board of Christian
Education "that no one who denies the absolute necessity of such
loyalty to the Bible, to the confession of faith, shall serve on its staff."
The assembly's action further widened the breach between the fundamentalists
and modernists, marked within the last twenty-four hours by another attack
by Dr. Machen upon modernist doctrines.
Developments Listed
These were the rapid-fire developments as the one hundred and forty-eighth
assembly moved into its fifth day:
1. Dr. Machen, fundamentalist leader, reiterated that the Judicial
Commission decisions last week against his faction "renders inevitable
a division in the church," and charged that the present organization
is "dominated by a modernism which is profoundly opposed to the Christian
religion."
2. Announcement of a meeting tomorrow night of Machen followers
to discuss preliminary plans for creation of a separate church, preparatory
to the Philadelphia convention late this month of the Constitutional Covenant
Union.
3. Fundamentalists protested what they termed modernistic policies
by the Board of Foreign Missions in China, and prepared to demand a reorganization
of the Board of Christian Education "so as to assure the teaching
of our doctrines."
Preaches Sermon
Dr. Machen's latest attack upon the modernist doctrines was made in a
Sunday sermon in which he criticized what he termed the church's demand
that "we ministers submit our consciences to a living and shifting
human authority." "To that demand, he declared, "we must
say very simply that 'we ought to obey God rather than men.' We cannot
agree to take the Bible from our pulpits and put the last minutes of the
General Assembly in its place.
[article transcribed from page 3 of an as yet unidentified
newspaper] |