Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 68, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 April 1902 — Church Has Outgrown Its Creed. [ARTICLE]

Church Has Outgrown Its Creed.

And Articles of Faith May Be Changed By General Council—Paper by Rev. C. D. Royse, of Rensselaer. Indianapolis Sun: Rev. Clarence.D. Royse, of Rensselaer, Ind., in a’paper read before the Methodist ministers, Monday, took strong exceptions to th^,creed of the methodist church, to which a convert mast subscribe' before being received into the church. His paper, “The creed of methodism; should be revised?” was a severe indictment of the creed. The creed, he insisted, does not correctly represent xethodism, and never did. It is a statement of the doctrines of the church, made in the days of Elizabeth of England, from which there has been something taken, but nothing added since those days. It teaches, Rev. Royse said, the doctrine of baptismal regeneration which the church today does not believe. It contains no clear statement of the doctrine of atonement. Some of the fundamental doctrines of methodism are not even hinted at in the creed.

Rev. Royse said he believed in a creed that is flexible and changeable as new issues arise. He is in favor of a definite statement of doctrine by the church, but is willing to goto the length of admitting people to membership in the church with making them subscribe to the creed. Rev. Royse’s paper did not create such a sensation in the meeting as might have been expected. In fact the paper represented largely the sentiment of all the ministers present, Rev. Joshua Stansfield, pastor of the Meridian-st M. E. church Indianapolis discussing the paper afterward, said: “Rev. Royse’s paper was in no sense a criticism of the present present praotioes or beliefs of the mehodist ohuroh. The originalarticles of faith, as formulated in the sixteenth century, were mainly directed against the Roman church, and the church has largely outgrown them them now. The articles of faith do not take in many of the main practiced by the churoh. “Is it likely that the ereed will be revised?’’ Rev. Stansfield was asxed. “It is hard to tell,” he replied, “It would be a very difficult matter to do. Some ministers hold that it is impossible to change the articles of faith, others that they "can be changed. Rev. Royse believes that they can be changed and, I agree with him. But the matter would have to come before the general conference.”