J. V. N. Talmage - History and Ecclesiastical Relations of the Churches of the Presbyterial Order at Amoy, China
J >>
J. V. N. Talmage >> History and Ecclesiastical Relations of the Churches of the Presbyterial Order at Amoy, China
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 HISTORY
AND
ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONS
OF THE
CHURCHES OF THE PRESBYTERIAL ORDER,
AT
AMOY, CHINA.
BY
REV. J.V.N. TALMAGE,
MISSIONARY OF THE PROT. REF. DUTCH CHURCH.
New York:
WYNKOOP, HALLENBECK & THOMAS, PRINTERS, 113 FULTON ST.
1863.
PREFACE.
_To the Ministers, Elders, and Members of the Reformed Dutch
Church_:
It is proper that I give some reasons for the publication
of this paper. The importance of the subject of the ecclesiastical
organization of the churches gathered in heathen lands, I conceive to
be a sufficient reason. Those who may differ in regard to the views
set forth in this paper, will not dispute the importance of the subject.
Instead of the questions involved having been settled by any of the
Presbyterian Denominations of this country (the Dutch Church
included among them), by experiments in India or any other
heathen land, very few of the churches gathered from the
heathen, by these various Denominations, have yet arrived at
a stage of development sufficient for practical application of
the experiment. (See foot-note, page 160.) There are, however,
a few mission churches, where the subject is now becoming
one of vast practical importance. The Church at Amoy stands out
prominent among these. With the continuance of the divine blessing
there will soon be many such. Hence the importance of the discussion,
and its importance _now_.
Many experiments have been made in reference to the
best way of conducting the work of missions. The Church
has improved by them, and has been compelled to _unlearn_
many things. We are continually returning towards the simple plan laid
down in God's Word. As the Church by experiment and by discussion has
thus been led to retrace some of her steps in the preliminary work of
missions, should she not be ready to take advantage of experiment and
discussion, in reference to the ecclesiastical organization of the mission
churches, and stand ready to retrace some of her steps in this second stage
of the work of missions, if need be, in order to conform more fully to
the doctrines of our Presbyterial church polity? I would use the
phrase _Scriptural church polity_, but I suppose it is the
universal belief of our Church, that Presbyterial polity is scriptural.
At any rate, it is the duty of the Church to examine the subject
carefully. She has nothing to fear from such examination.
She should fear to neglect it.
In addition to the importance of the subject in itself
considered, I have other reasons for discussing it at the
present time. There are mistaken impressions abroad in the
Church, concerning the views and course of your missionaries
at Amoy, which must be injurious to the cause of missions
in our Church. It would seem to be a plain duty to correct
these impressions. I will quote an extract from a letter, I
recently received, from an honored missionary of a sister
Church:
"I have heard much, and seen some notices in the papers
of the battle you fought on the floor of Synod, and would
like to hear your side of the subject from your own mouth,
as the question has also been a practical one with us. * *
* * * We have our own Presbytery, and manage our own business,
and insist on not having too much of what they call the new science
of Missionary management; a science which, I believe, has been
cultivated far too assiduously. It was this, more than anything else,
which kept me from going out under the A.B.C.F.M., and to Amoy.
* * * * * I hear, however, from some, that what you and the brethren
there had formed, was some sort of loose Congregational association.
If so, I must judge against you, for I believe in the _jure divino_
of Presbytery (or Classis if you choose so to call it), and I think you and
they should have been allowed to form a Presbytery there,
and manage all your own affairs, and that your Boards at
home should be content to consider themselves a committee
to raise and send on the funds. But it is hard for the D.
D's and big folk at home to come to that. They think they must manage
everything, or all will go wrong; while how little it is that they can
be brought to know or realize of the real nature of the work abroad; and
then it is the old battle of patronage over again. Those who give the
money must _govern_, and those who receive it must give up
their liberty, and be no longer Christ's freemen."
This is only a specimen, one of many, of the mistaken
impressions abroad in the Church concerning the views and
doings of your Missionaries. May we not, _must_ we not, correct
them? The letter also illustrates the evils resulting from allowing
mistaken impressions to remain in the Church uncorrected. There has long
been an impression in our Church that the A.B.C.F.M. interfered with the
ecclesiastical affairs of our missions. We have been informed that several
of our young men, before our Church separated from that Board, were
deterred thereby from devoting themselves to the foreign Missionary work.
The writer of the above letter, probably having more of the Missionary
spirit, was not willing, on that account, to give up the work, but was
led to offer himself to the Board of a sister Church. The
Mission at Amoy, and our Church, have thus been deprived
of the benefit of his labors by means of an erroneous impression.
When we learned the fact of such an impression existing in this country,
we endeavored to correct it. In our letter of 1856, to General Synod, we
called particular attention to the subject. Here is a part of one sentence:
"It seems to us a duty, and we take this opportunity to bear
testimony, that neither Dr. Anderson, nor the Prudential
Committee have ever, in any communication which we have received from them,
in any way, either by dictation, or by the expression of opinions,
interfered in the least with our ecclesiastical relations." We failed to
get that letter published, and I find the erroneous impression still
prevalent, working its mischief in the churches.
But to return to the subject of the mistaken impressions
concerning the views of your Missionaries at Amoy. These impressions would
have been partly corrected in the Church, if the report of the proceedings
of Synod, in "The Christian Intelligencer," had been more correct on this
subject. That paper states, that, on Friday evening, "Rev. Mr.
Talmage then took the floor, and addressed the Synod for
nearly two hours," but does not give a single word or idea
uttered by him. It is careful to report the only _unkind words_
against the Missionaries uttered during that whole discussion,
which, with this single exception, was conducted in a spirit
of the utmost Christian kindness; but does not give a word
of the remarks made on the Friday evening previous, on that
very subject, in justification of their course.
It seems to be a duty, though painful, to speak particularly
on this subject. Look at the following language: "I know that we are told
that the _hybrid organization_ [i.e. the Classis, _a court of the
Church of Christ_, at Amoy] which now exists is every way sufficient and
satisfactory; that it is the fruit of Christian love, and that to disturb
it would be rending the body of Christ. Here one might ask, how it came
to exist at all, seeing that this Synod spoke so plainly, and
unambiguously, in 1857; and _I, for one, cordially concur in
the remark of the elder, Schieffelin, that the brethren there 'deserve
censure_.' We do not censure them, nor do we propose to do so; _but that
they deserve it is undeniable_. But the point is, how can our disapproval
of _the mongrel Classis_ mar the peace of the Amoy brethren?" This
language was used by the President of Synod, after asking whether the Synod
was ready for the question, "the question being about to be
put," when an attempt to answer it seemed altogether out
of place. In all the circumstances it seemed almost like the
charge of a judge to a jury. I do not say that there is any
improper spirit manifested, or opprobrious expressions employed
in this language, or that the President did wrong in waiting until the
discussion was over before he uttered it, or that the missionaries are not
deserving of such severe censure--of all these things let the Church
judge--but I do say that the spreading of such language and such charges
broadcast, before the Church and before the world, demands that
the missionaries be heard in self-defense, or, which is all they
ask, that they be allowed to state the facts and views which
guided them in their action.
Doubtless it was an oversight that such a one-sided report on
this subject appeared in The Christian Intelligencer. At least
it was not at all designed that injustice be done to the Missionaries,
but, unless they be allowed to speak for themselves, is not injustice done
them? It seemed to me that a very mistaken impression concerning the views
expressed by me, near the close of the session of Synod, was also conveyed
by the Report. This I attempted to correct by a note to the
editor, but even the right of correcting my own sentiments
and language was refused, my note garbled, and, as I thought,
my views again misrepresented. More than this, the _implied_
charge is published to the world that I am seeking to excite
"dissension among the churches," and "opposition to the
constituted authority of Synod."[1] It would therefore be
great dereliction of duty to return to my field of labor, allowing
my own views, and the views of my co-laborers, to be thus mistaken in the
Church, and such serious charges against our course unanswered. I am not
aware that any censorship of the press has been authorized by General
Synod. Surely if others are allowed to be heard for us we should be allowed
the right to be heard for ourselves. We were unable by writing from Amoy to
get our views before the Church. I must, therefore, while in this land,
endeavor to make them known.
[Footnote 1: If this language seem too strong or uncalled for, see Appendix
B, at the end.]
I have been advised by some to delay the publication of
this paper a few months, until we learn the effect of the decision
of the last Synod on the Mission at Amoy, and see what course the Church
there may feel compelled to adopt. I do not see the force of such advice.
Whatever may be the course of the Church there, the intrinsic merits of
the question will be unchanged thereby. Besides this, I cannot afford
such delay. I have been looking forward to as speedy return
as possible to that field of labor. Would it be right to
leave the whole subject to the eve of my departure, and thus
shut myself off from the possibility of defending or further
explaining my views, if such defense or explanation be called
for?
I have been asked, Why not bring this subject before the
Church through the columns of the _Christian Intelligencer_?
This question, after what has been said above, need not now
be answered. Doubtless the editor is responsible for what
appears in his columns. The only resource left the Mission
seems to be the one I have chosen.
I regret the necessity of discussing the subject, since the
action of the last Synod, but we could not discuss it previously
without running counter to the same advice which would now restrain us.
I do not at all suppose, however, that by the course I am taking I shall
become guilty of disobedience "to the authority of Synod." Neither should
it be the occasion of creating "dissensions in the churches."
The discussion of any important subject in a proper spirit is
neither opposed to the doctrines of the Sacred Scriptures, nor
to the doctrines of the Dutch Church, and I am willing to
leave it to those who may read the following pages to decide
whether there be in them any manifestation of an improper
spirit. We, and those who differ from us, are all seeking the
same end, i.e. the glory of God through the advancement of
his cause. All that I ask for myself and co-laborers is an
_impartial hearing_.
Perhaps, in order to guard against any mistaken impression,
I ought to add that the relations between the Missionaries
and the Board of Foreign Missions of our Church, have always been of the
most pleasant character. Whatever have been their differences of opinion
on this most important subject, or on any other subject, they have not
caused, so far as I am aware, the least interruption of that warm Christian
friendship which has always existed, or been the occasion of
one unkind utterance in all their mutual correspondence.
Why not so? Cannot Christians reason with each other, even
on subjects of the highest moment, in such a spirit as not
only to avoid animosities, but even to increase personal friendship?
If this paper should prove the occasion of discussion in
our Church, let me express the hope that such discussion will
be carried on in such a spirit.
J.V.N. TALMAGE.
Bound Brook, N.J., October, 1863.
HISTORY
AND
ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONS
OF
THE CHURCHES OF THE PRESBYTERIAL ORDER,
AT
AMOY, CHINA.
The first Protestant Missionaries at Amoy arrived there in the year
1842. They were Dr. Abeel of the American Reformed Dutch Church, and
Bishop Boone of the American Episcopal Church. After these there arrived
Missionaries of the London Missionary Society, of the American
Presbyterian Church, of the English Presbyterian Church, and others of
the American Reformed Dutch Church.
Bishop Boone soon left Amoy, and no others of his Church have since then
been stationed there. The American Presbyterian Mission was removed to
other parts of China. At the present time there are three Missions at
Amoy, viz.: the Missions of the American Reformed Dutch Church, of the
London Missionary Society, and of the English Presbyterian Church.
The Missionaries of the London Missionary Society are Independents or
Congregationalists, and have organized their churches after the
Congregational order. Thus their churches form a distinct Denomination,
and nothing further need be said of them in this paper.
The first Missionary of the English Presbyterian Church at Amoy was Dr.
Jas. Young. He arrived in May, 1850. At that time there were two
Missionaries connected with our (R.D.C.) Mission, viz.: Rev. E. Doty, on
the ground, and Rev. J.V.N. Talmage, absent on a visit to the United
States. There were then under our care six native church members. Five
of them had been baptized by our Missionaries at Amoy. The other had
been baptized in Siam, by a Congregationalist or Presbyterian Minister
of the A.B.C.F.M.
Dr. Young, being a physician, and not an ordained Minister, instead of
commencing an independent work, inasmuch as our doctrines and order of
church government did not essentially differ from those of his own
Church, very naturally became more especially associated with us in our
work. A school under the care of our Mission, of which Mr. Doty did not
feel able to continue the charge, was passed over to his care. He also
rendered medical assistance to the Missionaries, and to the Chinese,
both in Amoy, and by occasional tours in the country. In his labors he
was usually assisted by native Christians under our care.
The first ordained Missionary of the English Presbyterian Church, at
Amoy, was Rev. William C. Burns. He joined Dr. Young in July, 1851.
While he rendered considerable assistance to the brethren of the London
Missionary Society, being ready to preach the gospel at every
opportunity, providentially he became especially associated with us, and
with the native Christians under our care. A remarkable outpouring of
the Spirit of God had accompanied the labors of Rev. Mr. Burns, in his
native land. So the remarkable outpouring of that same Spirit in Amoy,
and vicinity, occurred sometime after his arrival, and much of this good
work was manifestly connected with his labors. The permanent work in the
country around Amoy commenced through his instrumentality, in connection
with native members of the church under our care. We desired him to
take the charge of that work, and gather a church at Peh-chui-ia, under
the care of the English Presbyterian Church. But, at his urgent request,
we took the pastoral oversight of the work in that region, administering
the sacraments to the native converts.
Rev. James Johnstone, of the same Mission, arrived in December, 1853. He
undertook the care of the church being gathered at Peh-chui-ia,
assuming, in behalf of the English Presbyterian Church, all the expenses
thereof, we continuing the pastoral oversight until such time as his
knowledge of the language should be sufficient to enable him to relieve
us.
In consequence of the ill-health of Dr. Young, he and Mr. Burns left
Amoy, in August, 1854. Mr. Johnstone, in consequence of ill-health, left
in May, 1855, before he was able to relieve us fully from the pastoral
care of the church at Peh-chui-ia.
Rev. Carstairs Douglas, of the same Mission, arrived at Amoy in July,
1855, and immediately entered on the work of Mr. Johnstone, we
continuing the pastoral oversight of the church at Peh-chui-ia, until
his knowledge of the language enabled him to assume it.
Before the brethren of the English Presbyterian Church were able to
assume pastoral responsibility, the work spread from Peh-chui-ia to
Chioh-be. It was thought best that we take the charge of that station.
After the departure of Dr. Young, all the Missionaries of the English
Presbyterian Church, for several years, were unmarried men. Therefore,
they resolved to devote themselves more especially to work in the
country, leaving to our especial care the church in the city of Amoy,
and the one out-station at Chioh-be. Amoy was still necessarily their
place of residence. All their work at Amoy was in connection with the
church under our care. In the country we assisted them as we had
opportunity, and as occasion demanded. They did the same for us. In
fact, we and they have worked together as one Church, and almost as one
Mission, with the exception of keeping pecuniary matters distinct.
More recently the English Presbyterian Mission was reinforced by one
member with a family, and it seemed a proper time for them to commence
more direct work at Amoy. A very populous suburb (E-mng-kang) was
selected as a suitable and promising station. They assumed the immediate
care, and all the expense of it, employing, as at all the other
stations, indiscriminately, members of their own or of our churches as
helpers.
We are not afraid that our Church will ever blame us for working thus
harmoniously, and unitedly, with our English Presbyterian brethren, and
we feel confident that none of her Missionaries would consent to work on
any other principles. If there be any who, under similar circumstances,
would refuse thus to work, this would be sufficient evidence that they
had mistaken their calling. If any blame is to be attached to the course
the Missionaries have pursued, it is not that they have worked thus in
harmony and unison with the English Presbyterian brethren, but that they
have failed to keep the churches under their care ecclesiastically
distinct. Some do feel inclined to censure us for this. It must be,
however, because of some great misapprehension on their part. The Synod
has distinctly uttered a contrary sentiment, i.e. that the course of the
Missionaries is not censurable. We do not believe that our Church, when
she understands the true state of the case, will ever censure us on this
account. It would not be according to the spirit of her Master. He
prayed that His people might be one, but he never prayed for their
separation from each other. When separation is necessary, it is a
necessary _evil_. But more of this hereafter. Our Church might well have
censured us, if we had adopted lower principles as her representatives
in building up the Church of Christ in China.
The first organization of a church at Amoy under our care, by the
ordination of a Consistory, took place in 1856. The Missionaries of our
Board then on the ground were Doty and Talmage. Mr. Douglas was the only
Missionary of the English Presbyterian Church. (Mr. Joralmon, of our
Church, arrived between the time of the election and the ordination of
office-bearers.) When the time came for the organization of the Church,
we felt a solemn responsibility resting on us. We supposed it to be our
duty to organize the Church in China with reference simply to its own
welfare, and efficiency in the work of evangelizing the heathen around.
Believing (after due deliberation) that the order of our own Church in
America would best secure this end, of course we adopted it. We did not
suppose that we were sent out to build up the _American_ Dutch Church in
China, but a Church after the same order, a purely Chinese Church. How
much the growth and efficiency of our Church in this country has been
promoted by retaining (rather inserting) the term "_Dutch_" in her name,
I will not now attempt to discuss. I suppose the principal argument in
favor thereof is found in the fact that our Church, in the first
instance, was a colony from Holland. The Church in China is not a colony
from Holland, or America. We must not, therefore, entail on her the
double evil of both the terms "_American_" and "_Dutch_" or the single
evil of either of these terms. Your Missionaries will never consent to
be instrumental in causing such an evil.
We had already adopted the order and customs of our Church at home, so
far as they could be adopted in an unorganized Church. The English
Presbyterian brethren had adopted the same. They found that there were
no differences of any importance between us and them; the churches being
gathered under our care and under theirs--growing out of each other and
being essentially one--neither we nor they could see any sufficient
reason for organizing two distinct denominations. Especially had _we_ no
reason for such a course, inasmuch as they were willing even to conform
to our peculiarities. We most cordially invited Mr. Douglas to unite
with us in the organization of the Church, and he as cordially accepted
of the invitation.
In reference to this subject Mr. Douglas wrote to their Corresponding
Secretary as follows: "I need hardly say that this transaction does not
consist in members of one church joining another, nor in two churches
uniting, but it is an attempt to build up on the soil of China, with the
lively stones prepared by the great Master-builder, an ecclesiastical
body holding the grand doctrines enunciated at Westminster and Dort, and
the principles of Presbyterian polity embraced at the Reformation by the
purest churches on the continent and in Britain; it will also be a
beautiful point in the history of this infant Church that the
under-builders employed in shaping and arranging the stones, were
messengers of two different (though not differing,) churches in the two
great nations on either side of the Atlantic."
The course of Mr. Douglas met with the decided approval of their
Secretary, and, as he had reason then to believe, and has since fully
learned, with the approval of their Church.
We also sent a communication to our Church, addressing it to General
Synod. We directed it to the care of one of our prominent ministers, for
a long time Secretary of the Board, with the request that it be laid
before the Church, using language as follows: "You will, doubtless,
receive this paper some months before the time for the next meeting of
that Body [General Synod]. We would suggest therefore, that the paper be
published, that the members of the next General Synod may have the
matter before them, and be the better prepared to make such disposition
of it as the subject may demand. We feel that the subject is one of very
grave importance," &c.
Our communication was laid before the Board of Foreign Missions. They
designated it a _Memorial_, and decided that they had no right to
publish it. Of course we had no means of publishing it ourselves. It was
laid before Synod among other papers of the Board. The action of Synod
on the subject was as follows (Minutes of Synod, 1857, pp. 225-227):
"Among the papers submitted to the Synod is an elaborate document from
the brethren at Amoy, giving the history of their work there, of its
gradual progress, of their intimate connection with Missionaries from
other bodies, of the formation of the Church now existing there, and
expressing their views as to the propriety and feasibility of forming a
Classis at that station. In reply to so much of this paper as respects
the establishment of individual churches, we must say that while we
appreciate the peculiar circumstances of our brethren, and sympathize
with their perplexities, yet it has always been considered a matter of
course that ministers, receiving their commission through our Church,
and sent forth under the auspices of our Board, would, when they formed
converts from the heathen into an ecclesiastical body, mould the
organization into a form approaching as nearly as possible that of the
Reformed Dutch Churches in our own land. Seeing that the converted
heathen, when associated together, must have some form of government,
and seeing that our form is, in our view, entirely consistent with, if
not required by, the Scriptures, we expect it will in all cases be
adopted by our Missionaries, subject, of course, to such modifications
as the peculiar circumstances may for the time render necessary. The
converts at Amoy, as at Arcot and elsewhere, are to be regarded as 'an
integral part' of our Church, and as such are entitled to all the rights
and privileges which we possess.
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6