“MASS was said last Sunday in the Salvation Army Congress Hall at Clapton for the Catholics among the Basque child refugees. About twenty children attended. A Basque priest was the celebrant. The Salvation Army authorities provided the necessary facilities, an altar being arranged on a trestle-table, and vestments borrowed from St. Scholastica’s nearby. This, of course, is quite in keeping with the policy of the Army” (News Chronicle, June 4, 1937).
The above announcement will not surprise anyone who is acquainted with the spiritual ancestry and doctrinal position of the Salvation Army. Its founder, William Booth, was a Methodist minister, and its theology combines orthodox Evangelical doctrines with the semi-Pelagian teaching of John Wesley and the Church of Rome. The Doctrines of the Salvation Army are set forth in the Foundation Deed, enrolled in the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice on August 13, 1878. The following extracts are taken from a commendably lucid exposition of these tenets entitled The Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine, issued by authority of the General, and prefaced by a General Order requiring of “officers of all ranks, that their teaching, in public and in private, shall conform to our Doctrines as herein set forth.”
God “is doing his utmost to save men from sin, and . . . in this He wants His people to help Him” (V. iv. 60). “The Bible never represents Christ as having paid the sinner’s debt” (VI. i. 73). “The Atonement of Jesus Christ was made on behalf of the whole of mankind . . . Of this the Army is most strongly convinced” (VI. i. 73). “He died for those who may be lost . . . He died for those who will perish” (VI. i. 74). “Man is free to choose; it depends on himself whether or not he is benefitted by redemption” (VI. iii. 76). “The Bible plainly shows the need for man to do his part if he is to partake of the blessings of Christ’s atonement . . . Though God yearns in pity over perishing men, yet He can save them only if they are willing” (VI. iii. 80). “Continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued faith in Christ . . . It is possible for those who have been truly converted to fall away and be eternally lost . . . God keeps His people conditionally, that is, they must do their part if He is to do His” (IX. i. 112). “The Bible warns God’s people of the possibility of falling away from God, and, after knowing His love, being finally lost” (IX. ii. 120).
“It is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified . . . Evil tendencies can be entirely taken away by the Spirit of God, and the whole heart, thus cleansed from everything contrary to the will of God, or entirely sanctified, will then produce the fruit of the Spirit only” (X. 123). “When in the Army, we speak of sanctification, we usually mean entire sanctification, and the experience is also known by other names such as holiness, a clean heart, perfect love, Christian perfection, full salvation, the blessing” (X. i. 131). “God’s people may be delivered from all sin, and enabled to do God’s will in this life . . . A God of love would never command what is impossible” (X. ii. 132). “Many Christians, since Bible days, have experienced and testified to the enjoyment of full salvation. Among such, may be named, Ignatius, one of the early Christians; Madame Guyon, a Ronian Catholic; Zinzendorf, a Moravian; Charles Finney, a Presbyterian; John Fletcher, of the English Church; John Wesley, William Bramwell and other Methodists; the Army Founder, the Army Mother and thousands of Salvationists” (X. ii. 134).—Peace and Truth (July-September, 1937).