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THE ENGLISH PRESBYTERIAN HYMN BOOK.

(TO THE EDITO3 OF THE TIMES ) ! Sib, — As I ohgerv* a letter in jour last ifgue • on the subject of th-s English Presbyterian hymnbook, I beg to send jou a copy of the following letter addressed to a member of.- my own congr>ration, in reference to the same matter, whijh I think will also be a sufficient reply to jour correspondent. The only matter not referred to in Ul9 subjoined note, is tha taode in which tho Session propose to ascertain the sentiment of the congregation. I do no( think that the plan proposed is fairly liable to the censure of tout correspondent. The Session do not propose to take a vote of the congregation on the matter. They simply wish to ascertain what amount of concurrence they may count upon in the creut of introducing the book, and clearly all partioa who will not 'ake the trouble to sa,y that they object, ought to be held as concurriaj. I hare no doubt that there are many members of our church who would not record their Tote ono way or another, simply because they wish to I^ave tho J whole matter in the Session's handa, as being in their judgment the most competent parties to judge what will be best for the spiritual good of the congregation. — Yours, &c, And hew H. Stobo. i COPT OF I/KTTEB. I lam in receipt of your note anent the subject !of the hynri-book. I don't suppose that your opposition is captious, at the tame time I trust that you will prayerfully consider one or two facts bearing on the matter. First. — It was on a motion made at a congregational meeting, and end< rsed almost unanimously bj those present, that. I first promised to move in the matter of hymns at the Synod. I have reason to belieTe that there hae been no change of sentiment since on the part of the mass of the congregation, who have waited for some practical result for | some years. Secondly. — There is not an evangelical church of any considerable size or importance at the present daj in Christendom that does not use hymns in the worship of G-od, and several of them hare done so for more than a generation, alongside of, and in subordination to, the Psalnag of David. Thirdly. — Our present collection of paraphrases and hymns ia notoriously inadequate, as is clear from the fact that the Free Church has, by an overwhelming majority, adopted a hymn-book for use in her congregations. Fourthly. — It is not the rase that a majority of Sessions in their returns were opposed to the use of the English Presbyterian hjmn-book. Some of those most strongly in favor of the hymn-book —our own Session for example— were not taken into account at all, simply because the clerk did not report their resolution, not thinking it of much consequence at that stage of the matter, or neglecting it ; whilst others, instead of simply answering aye or ho, asked first to see the Free Church collection, and so by a technicality, were marked as opposed to the remit. I venture to say that the great majority of the Sessions are in favor of a. hymn-book. But the Sessions are not the people, nor do they determine the Synod's action, and I believe that if you poll tho membership of our churches, you will find three out o!' four in fuvor of a hymn-book. Fifthly. — If the Englis-h Presbyterian book be rejected in our con. relation, we can now obtain no other one, as this is the only one sanctioned by the Synod. Sixthly. — In these circumstances, it is a very soleoin responsibility to stand in the way of many of the most pious paople of our congregation, who have long felt anxious to stir up and give vent to their devotional feciings in some of the sabred songs that have become of world wile acceptation. Seventhly. — It has been pleaded that the majority, however gr.>at, ought to defer to the minority, however small, inasmuch ag the latter plead conscience. There is not the most insignificant change that could be proposed — such as standing at singing — but will be encountered by this plea ; so that we must first consider whether th<-re can be any show of reason even, (or a Christian brother having his conscience aggrieved in the matter, and if there be not, we must not let the frivolous objections of a few individuals stan ! in the way of the edification of a large congregation. Duty to Christ demands a different course. In the present case, what show of reason can there be for speaking of conscience or principle being touched, when the objectors belong to a chu'eh that already uses hymns ? We have already five hymns, and several paraphrases that are just hymns with Scripture texts as mottoes at the top. And all that is proposed is to substitute for this miserable apology a really good collection of the choicest songs of Z:on. The English Presbyterian hymnbook is, I believe, take it all in all, the very best collection in u*e by any church at the present time, and if the conscience of anjone wor;'t let him sing one of its sacred songs, why, he may just be silent ior that time, and eonaole himself with the reflection that whilst keeping a good conscience, he is denying hitaoelf" a. little tor the pake of a. whole eongrogntion — who will heartily join with dim in those noble psalms which will still form the staple of our praise.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ST18730321.2.21

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Southland Times, Issue 1717, 21 March 1873, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
931

THE ENGLISH PRESBYTERIAN HYMN BOOK. Southland Times, Issue 1717, 21 March 1873, Page 3

THE ENGLISH PRESBYTERIAN HYMN BOOK. Southland Times, Issue 1717, 21 March 1873, Page 3

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