The Synod resumed its sitting on Wednesday the 23rd May, 1917, at 2 p.m. The meeting was opened with devotional exercises, conducted by the Moderator, Rev. D. Macfarlane, Dingwall.
The Roll was called, and there were present: From the Western Presbytery—Revs. N. Macintyre, Stornoway; A. Macrae, Portree; D. Graham, Shieldaig; A. Sutherland, C.F., Ullapool, ministers; with Messrs. J. Macdonald, Gairloch; F. Macdonald, Shieldaig; and A. Mackenzie, Stornoway, elders. From the Northern Presbytery—Revs. J. R. Mackay, Inverness; D. Macfarlane, Dingwall (Moderator); D. Beaton, Wick; and D. A. Macfarlane, Lairg, ministers; with Messrs. C. Maclean, Inverness; and M. Urquhart, Dingwall, elders. From the Southern Presbytery—Revs. N. Cameron, J. S. Sinclair (Clerk), E. Macqueen, and A. Mackay, ministers; with Messrs. D. Fraser and M. Campbell, elders.
The Minutes of the First Sederunt were held over until a future meeting.
(1) REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON BILLS AND OVERTURES.
The Clerk read the report of the Committee on Bills and Overtures, as to the order of business, which was adopted.
(2) APPEAL AGAINST DECISION OF NORTHERN PRESBYTERY RE NEW TIME REGULATION.
The Clerk intimated that there was an appeal by Mr. John Campbell, elder, and Mr. William M’Pherson, member, Bonar, against a decision of the Northern Presbytery relative to the new summer-time regulation appointed by the Government. He also reported that the appellants had sent word that they had found it impossible to come to the Synod to support their appeal. The Synod decided that, according to regular Church procedure, the appeal had fallen through owing to the failure of the appellants to appear. It was agreed, however, on the proposal of the members of the Northern Presbytery, that the Synod take steps to formulate a deliverance on the subject of the new summer-time regulation, before the close of the meeting of the Court.
(3) APPOINTMENT OF CHURCH COMMITTEES.
The Clerk moved the appointment of the following Committees:—
(1) Theological Committee.—Revs. D. Beaton, E. Macqueen, and N. Macintyre; with Mr. Beaton as Convener.
(2) Finance Committee.—Revs. J. R. Mackay, N. Cameron, and A. Macrae; with Mr. Mackay as Convener.
(3) Canadian Mission Committee.—Revs. D. Beaton, N. Macintyre, and J. S. Sinclair; with Mr. Beaton as Convener.
(4) Foreign Mission Committee.—Revs. N. Cameron, J. R. Mackay, and Mr. F. Macdonald, elder; with Mr. Cameron as Convener.
(5) Church Magazine Committee.—Revs. J. S. Sinclair, N. Cameron, and Mr. M. Campbell, elder, Oban; with Mr. Sinclair as Convener.
(6) Religion and Morals Committee.—Rev. A. Macrae, and Messrs. D. Fraser and C. Maclean, elders; with Mr. Macrae as Convener.
(7) Mission to Forces Committee.—Revs. N. Cameron, J. R. Mackay, and N. Macintyre; with Mr. Cameron as Convener.
The motion was seconded by Mr. D. Fraser, elder, and agreed to.
(5) REPORT OF THEOLOGICAL COMMITTEE.
The following Report on Theological Classes was given by Rev. John R. Mackay, M.A., Theological Tutor:—
Mr. Mackay said:—”Moderator and Brethren,—I beg to submit to you a brief report of work done in the Theological Classes at Inverness during the last session. We met on the last Tuesday of November, 1916, and closed on the last Friday of April, 1917. Our Divinity Students were the same as last year, viz., Mr. William Matheson (Canadian) in his last year, and Mr. Roderick MacInnes and Mr. James MacLeod in their second year.
“As a rule we met only on four days of the week—its being, in fact, physically impossible for either teacher or taught, in view of Sabbath services, to do much more. Our hours were from 10.40 a.m. to 12 noon, and again from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in the afternoon. As in past sessions, our students read each morning for devotional ends a portion of the Greek New Testament. My experience has been that this exercise is fitted to give a more elevated aim to our day’s work, some of which is necessarily almost exclusively intellectual in its processes. Our students, I am glad to report, are qualified to read the New Testament in the original with genuine admiration.
“As to what in the strict sense belongs to my sphere of tuition, it may be divided into three sections:—
First, there is the subject of Homiletics and Pastoral Theology.
To this very important subject more attention was devoted during the last session than was done for any previous class in training with me. That is to say, one hour of each week was up to near the end of the session devoted to this Theological Discipline. Our method was to make use of Shedd’s Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, and the discussions gave ample opportunities of supplementing in any way in which one’s own experience might have taught one a lesson. Shedd’s volume on Homiletics and Pastoral Theology is justly regarded by competent judges as one of the best on its subject in the English language, and, indeed, there is no minister but might be the better of a careful perusal of Dr. Shedd’s learned, able, and, above all, solemn discussions of the several topics that in this course come up for consideration. We had no written examination here, but, with the exception of one chapter which contemplates an order of worship somewhat diverse from that recognised among ourselves, the class was, by a system of oral examination, thoroughly indoctrinated in Shedd’s valuable teaching on the subjects of sermon-making and general pastoral duties.
The second subject was Old Testament Translation and Exegesis.
I may remark that the whole of the Book of Genesis, in Hebrew, was prescribed to our students as vacation work last summer, and the results of the examination held after the session commenced showed that our students had set themselves to this task with commendable energy and intelligence. When, then, we took up Hebrew last December, in order to get into working order in the easiest possible way, we, to begin with, read a few chapters over again in Genesis, the chapters chosen being xii. to xv., a portion of the sacred oracles fraught with the most important lessons for the life of faith to the end of time, and to these lessons it was my endeavour to draw the attention of our young men. This finished, we read for some days in Deuteronomy—reading throughout the first of the three main speeches of Moses which constitute the body of this fifth book of the law. From Moses we proceeded to Isaiah, and read in his prophecies from chapter xxxvi. to chapter xliv., getting in this way a taste of Isaiah’s style both as a sacred historiographer and as a prophet in the stricter sense of the word. I gave a series of brief lectures in this connection to form what might pass as an Introduction to the Prophecies of Isaiah as a whole, and devoted a good deal of attention to a statement and criticism of the grounds upon which certain critics deny unity of authorship in respect of these prophecies. As touching that part of Isaiah which begins with chapter xl., and so far as the exigencies of time permitted us to read onward carefully, I commended that method of interpretation which views this part of the prophecy as directly Messianic, and treats the remarkable allusions to a restoration from the Babylonian captivity as merely illustrative of Jehovah’s omniscience, omnipotence and grace, attributes which in their self-revelation come to their own only in the success of Messiah in establishing the Kingdom of God in the world. For the rest, the text was treated with the philological and grammatical care that an exegesis presupposes. It was my wish to interest the students in the Prophecies of Ezekiel, and although we had time only to read the Theophany with which the prophecy opens, and to give an outline of the prophecy as a whole, we were thankful to have been enabled to overtake even that much.
One hour was thus each day devoted to these Old Testament studies, and from almost the beginning of the session down to the end of our fourth month that hour was, each Tuesday as it came round, devoted to the Book of Psalms. I gave a few lectures on the Psalter by way of introduction, and for the rest our time in this reference was given to as exact and careful a study of those leading Messianic Psalms—ii., xxii., xlv., and cx.—as we could command.
As in past years, the best part of the month of April was devoted to Daniel, and that very specially for the reason that it is eminently desirable that our ministers should read Aramaic, and thus be able to read for themselves the whole of the divine oracles in the original languages. After one is somewhat at home in Hebrew, Aramaic is not really difficult, and it lends an interest to the study when one thinks that from the viewpoint of the Biblical literature, Daniel itself forms one of the battlefields of faith and unbelief; and that Aramaic was the mother tongue of our Lord and His Apostles; not to mention other avenues of useful information which an acquaintance with this dialect may open up. As in the case of Isaiah and the Psalms, I gave some tuition in the form of a special introduction to Daniel. Also, over and above those special introductions, I gave a few lectures in general introduction to the Old Testament, discussing such matters as the text, the canon, the Higher Criticism, and the theology of the Old Testament.
I may be briefer in my report relative to Systematic Theology—our third main subject—
although it took up more time and labour than any other of our studies—at least so far as the tutor was concerned. I may say that as I had the feeling that it would be impossible for me in the course of sixty lectures, or thereabout, to take in the whole field of Systematic Theology with any degree of adequacy of treatment, I prescribed to our students in summer work that part of Charles Hodge’s Systematic Theology which deals with the means of grace, and with Eschatology; and the examination, to which our students submitted on their return to work in Inverness last winter, showed that it was in no slipshod manner that our students took this part of their work in hand, but that, on the contrary, they did it as men sincerely desirous of doing what in them lay to make a befitting preparation for their work in the ministry. Considering, as I do, that the subject matter of Systematic Theology is God and His relation to all that is not God, I departed in my lectures from the more usual distribution of the matter which has been into Theology Proper, Anthropology, Soteriology, Eschatology, and distributed my matter thus: I. God as He is in Himself; II. God as Creator and Preserver; III. God as Lawgiver and Judge; IV. God as Saviour; V. God as all in all, and with this distribution, in a course of sixty lectures, dealt with the several topics that usually come up for discussion in Dogmatics. It was, of course, helpful that in the previous session we had devoted so much time to the central theme of the Atonement, and that, as I have already said, our students had during the summer made a careful study of Hodge on the means of grace and on Eschatology.
“Altogether I have to say of our students that they did the work not only with conscientiousness, but with enthusiasm. I desire, in conclusion, to say that the work was to me a labour of love, and that I had to admire the grace that not only in the matter of physical strength enabled me to go through with the work to the end, but gave me tokens that He was near to us in His Word and Spirit.”
Rev. D. Beaton moved that the Synod adopt the Theological Report, and cordially thank the Rev. J. R. Mackay, as Tutor, for his valuable and efficient services. Mr. Beaton spoke at some length of the important work done. The motion was seconded by the Rev. Neil Cameron, who said that they had much reason to thank the Most High for their Theological Tutors, as sound instruction in theology was of the greatest importance to students for the ministry in these times of departure from the truth. The motion was cordially agreed to. Rev. J. R. Mackay thanked the Court for the kind way in which his report was received.
Mr. Mackay reported that, owing to circumstances arising out of the War, the “International Bible Encyclopaedia,” issued in America, for which the Synod voted a sum of money at its meeting last year, was not bought. He further reported that Mr. William Matheson, divinity student, had passed his Final Examinations in Theology, and had done excellent work, having gained nearly 100 per cent. in all his examinations. The Northern Presbytery had given trial discourses to Mr. Matheson with a view to license. Rev. A. Macrae moved the adoption of the report relative to Mr. W. Matheson. The motion was seconded by the Rev. N. Cameron, and agreed to.
(6) REPORT OF CANADIAN MISSION COMMITTEE.
Rev. D. Beaton, Convener, gave in the Report of this Committee, which principally dealt with the supply of Chesley and the various Stations connected with the Canadian Mission.
The following resolution on the Report was agreed to:—”The Synod recommend that Mr. William Matheson, divinity student, after license, be ordained as a missionary and sent to the Canadian Mission, with a view to the supply of Chesley and other places, provided he is willing to undertake the risk of crossing the Atlantic at the present critical time.” The Synod further considered an application from Mr. D. Macdonald, Chesley, to be admitted as a student of the Church. Rev. N. Cameron moved that the case be remitted back to the Session in Canada for further enquiry. The motion was seconded by the Rev. A. Macrae, and agreed to.
Rev. D. Beaton submitted petitions with respect to supply from Winnipeg and Bayton in Manitoba, in view of the possibility of Mr. Malcolm Gillies, student, returning to Scotland to pursue his theological studies. Rev. N. Cameron moved that the Committee, provided Mr. Gillies decided to come to this country, look out for a lay missionary, possessing Gaelic and English, to take his place. Rev. E. Macqueen seconded the motion, which was agreed to.
(7) FINANCE COMMITTEE’S REPORT.
In the absence of Mr. Alex. MacGillivray, General Treasurer, Inverness, the Rev. J. R. Mackay, Convener of the Finance Committee, submitted the Annual Statement, in tabulated form, of the Church’s Public Accounts and Collections. He concluded by proposing the adoption of the following resolution thereanent:—
“The Synod adopt the General Treasurer’s Financial Statement for the year ending 31st March, 1917, and order the same to be published in an early number of the Magazine. They own and acknowledge the Lord’s goodness in His providence, as revealed in their people’s liberality towards His cause; and they tender thanks to Mr. James Campbell and Mr. John Fraser, for their valuable gratuitous services as auditors, and to Mr. MacGillivray, General Treasurer, for his careful handling of the Church’s finances, and for the character of the present report. They again recommend the Church’s schemes to the practical sympathy of their people, and re-appoint the above-named auditors for the current year. Furthermore, in view of the high prices prevailing on account of the War, they instruct the General Treasurer to remit to ministers the sum of £10 each at Lammas of this year and a similar sum to each minister at the following Candelmas, and also to remit a sum which shall be in proportion to their salaries, to each of their missionaries or catechists and probationers, as the Finance Committee will exactly determine: all this to be by way of augmentation of the ordinary salaries of the above named.”
Rev. E. Macqueen seconded the motion, which was adopted.
Rev. A. Sutherland called attention to the circumstance that the late Mr. Murdo Macleod, missionary, Stoer, received no payment of salary from the date on which he sent his resignation last year to the period of his death in January, 1917. Rev. J. R. Mackay pointed out that Mr. Macleod’s resignation was not actually accepted by the Synod, but referred to the Western Presbytery, and that there was no intention whatever to stop Mr. Macleod’s salary. The whole matter was an overlook. The Synod instructed the Clerk to communicate with the General Treasurer on the subject with a view to payment, and to send an expression of regret to Mrs. Macleod at the unintentional omission.
(8) APPOINTMENT OF CHURCH COLLECTIONS.
The Clerk moved that the Church Collections be appointed as follows, same as previous year:—(1) Collection for College Fund in August, 1917—notice to be sent by the Convener of the Theological Committee; (2) Home Mission Fund (Missionaries and Catechists), first Collection in October, 1917, by book from house to house—notice to be sent by the Convener of the Finance Committee; (3) Organisation Fund (General Expenses), collection in December, 1917—notice to be sent by the Synod Clerk; (4) Church Building Fund in January, 1918—notice to be sent by Synod Clerk; (5) Foreign Mission Fund, collection in February, 1918—notice to be sent by Convener of Foreign Mission Committee; (6) Home Mission Collection (Missionaries and Catechists), second collection in April, 1918, at Church door—notice to be sent by Convener of Finance Committee; (7) Aged and Infirm Ministers’ and Ministers’ Widows’ and Orphans’ Fund, collection in June, 1918—notice to be sent by the Rev. D. Macfarlane, Dingwall. The motion was seconded by the Rev. E. Macqueen, and agreed to.
The Synod adjourned at about 5.45 p.m., to meet again (D.V.) at 6.30 p.m. The meeting was closed with praise and prayer.