THE DOCTRINAL BASIS OF THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. A.D. 1846. Adopted at the Organization of the American Branch of the Evangelical Alliance, in January, 1867. [The Nine Articles were adopted by the first meeting of the Evangelical Alliance, in London, 1846, and published in the Report of the Proceedings of the Conference, held at Freemasons' Hall, London, from Aug. 19th to Sept. 2d, 1846. Published by order of the Conference. London, 1847. The preamble, which we print in small type, was added by the American Branch of the Alliance, organized in the Bible House, New York, Jan., 1867, and, with this qualifying preamble, the doctrinal articles were used at the General Conference of the Alliance held in New York, Oct., 1873. The Evangelical Alliance is no Church, and has no authority to issue and enforce an ecclesiastical creed. It is simply a voluntary association of individual Christians for the promotion of Christian union and religious liberty; but as such it may declare on what doctrinal basis it proposes to labor for its end, and how much or how little of the traditional faith it takes for granted among its members.] Resolved, That in forming an Evangelical Alliance for the United States, in co-operative union with other Branches of the Alliance, we have no intention or desire to give rise to a new denomination or sect; nor to affect an amalgamation of Churches, except in the way of facilitating personal Christian intercourse and a mutual good understanding; nor to interfere in any way whatever with the internal affairs of the various denominations; but, simply, to bring individual Christians into closer fellowship and co-operation, on the basis of the spiritual union which already exists in the vital relation of Christ to the members of his body in all ages and countries. Resolved, That in the same spirit we propose no new creed; but, taking broad, historical, and evangelical catholic ground, we solemnly reaffirm and profess our faith in all the doctrines of the inspired Word of God, and the consensus of doctrines as held by all true Christians from the beginning. And we do more especially affirm our belief in the Divine-human person and atoning work of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as the only and sufficient source of salvation, as the heart and soul of Christianity, and as the centre of all true Christian union and fellowship. Resolved, That, with this explanation, and in the spirit of a just Christian liberality in regard to the minor differences of theological schools and religious denominations, we also adopt, as a summary of the consensus of the various Evangelical Confessions of Faith, the Articles and Explanatory Statement set forth and agreed on by the Evangelical Alliance at its formation in London, 1846, and approved by the separate European organizations; which articles are as follows:1 1. The Divine inspiration, authority, and sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures. 2. The right and duty of private judgment in the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. 3. The Unity of the Godhead, and the Trinity of the persons therein. 'In the original form the Articles are introduced by the following sentence: "The parties composing the Alliance shall be such persons only as hold and maintain what are usually understood to be evangelical views in regard to the matters of doctrine understated, namely-' '4. The utter depravity of human nature in consequence of the Fall. 5. The incarnation of the Son of God, his work of atonement for the sins of mankind,' and his mediatorial intercession and reign. 6. The justification of the sinner by faith alone. 7. The work of the Holy Spirit in the conversion and sanctification of the sinner. '8. The immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, the judgment of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, with the eternal blessedness of the righteous, and the eternal punishment of the wicked. 9. The divine institution of the Christian ministry, and the obligation and perpetuity of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. 'It is, however, distinctly declared: First, that this brief summary is not to be regarded in any formal or ecclesiastical sense as a creed or confession, nor the adoption of it as involving an assumption of the right authoritatively to define the limits of Christian brotherhood, but simply as an indication of the class of persons whom it is desirable to embrace within the Alliance; Second, that the selection of certain tenets, with the omission of others, is not to be held as implying that the former constitute the whole body of important truth, or that the latter are unimportant.' 1 The official Report of Proceedings (both on pp. 77 and 189) reads 'for sinners of mankind,' which is probably a typographical error. All other issues of the Articles in the Alliance publications read sins. APPENDIX. AN EVANGELICAL UNION CATECHISM. [This Biblical Union Catechism (slightly revised by the author for this work) has no ecclesiastical sanction or authority whatever, and is only added as an attempt to express, in a popular catechetical form, the doctrinal consensus of the Evangelical Churches. It was originally prepared in 1862, with brief explanatory notes, as a labor of love for the author's family, but found its way into a number of Sunday-schools, and was made the basis of similar works. A German edition was published by the American Tract Society, New York, 1863, and another, with additions and explanations by Prof. Dr. Pfleiderer, Stuttgart, 1874.] A CHRISTIAN CATECHISM: IN FIFTY-TWO LESSONS FOR SUNDAY-SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES. 1. Who made you? Introductory Lessons. I. THE END OF MAN. Almighty God, our heavenly Father. Gen. i. 27; Psa. c. 3; Job xxxiii. 4; John i. 3. 2. Who redeemed you? Our Lord Jesus Christ. 3. Who sanctifies you? 1 Pet. i. 18, 19; 1 Cor. vi. 20; Tit. ii. 14. The Holy Spirit. 1 Cor. vi. 11; 1 Pet. i. 2; Heb. x. 22. 4. For what end were you created? For the glory of God, and for eternal blessedness. 5. What, then, should be your chief concern in this life? Matt. vi. 33; xvi. 26; Phil. ii. 12, 13. II. THE WAY OF SALVATION. 1. Is it the will of God that you should be saved? Yes. 2. Why so? Because God is love, and will have all men to be saved. 1 John iv. 8; Ezek. xxxiii. 11; 2 Pet. iii. 9; 1 Tim. ii. 4. 3. How has God revealed his love to you? By giving his only-begotten Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. John iii. 16; 1 Tim. i. 15; Rom. v. 8. |