A Great Grievance. Laurence A.B. Whitley. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

Автор: Laurence A.B. Whitley
Издательство: Ingram
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Жанр произведения: Религия: прочее
Год издания: 0
isbn: 9781621896449
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for help to Johnston, who was legal adviser to the Assembly. On hearing that a similar scenario was unfolding in another parish, Johnston considered the situation serious enough for him to leave his sick-bed to make, as he saw it, a definitive statement of the Kirk’s position on presentations, before things got out of hand.39

      Johnston of Wariston’s Statement

      Johnston’s paper is lengthy, but it provides a remarkable insight into what the leading figure in the Church at the time was thinking, and is worthy of attention. Its salient points can be summarized:

      (i). only fanatics could think of raising, unnecessarily, questions of national significance at a time when the Church is trying to settle after the recent upheavals;

      (iii). the complainers are mistaken about the form of the book; only the first ten chapters contain directives, and none of these expressly condemns patronage; in chapter eleven, abuses are complained of, and in chapter twelve, supplication is made to have matters like patronage reformed; however, the abandonment of presentations was only sought, not enacted; this means the Covenant oath can hardly apply to something that ought to be done, but only to matters which are actually enjoined;

      In conclusion, he hopes his statement will be used, not to defend patronage—for he will labor, by all lawful means, to free the Church from it—but only for removing the objections that the complainers have to it.

      Critique of Johnston’s Arguments

      Taken as a whole, Johnston’s statement is coherent and persuasive, except for his fourth point, much of which is confused, if not questionable. It is important to consider this in detail, since some of the matters it covers reappear in later controversies.