Presbyterian Principles

The northern Presbyterians wound up their General-Assembly meeting in Manhattan with a broadside of resolutions. In its main actions, the Assembly:

P: Condemned the persecution of Protestants in Colombia--"largely instigated by fanatical Roman Catholic priests"--and ordered copies of the resolution sent to Harry Truman, the United Nations and the Vatican.

P: Praised the "spiritual virility" of missionaries in Korea, where 300 native Presbyterian clergymen have been killed for their faith.

P: Called for "a nonsegregated church and a nonsegregated society," presented a citation to Negro Singer Marian Anderson, and specifically demanded an end to segregation in Washington, D.C.

P: Denounced the widespread use of loyalty oaths and antisubversive measures as "denials of human rights" and an "unmistakable trend towards authoritarianism and thought control," but, in a last-minute resolution, praised congressional committees and other Government agencies that are maintaining "fundamental American liberties [and protecting] us and all our citizens from spies."

P: Voted to ask Congress to extend the Social Security Act to clergymen on a voluntary basis.

P: Appointed a committee to consider whether the wording of the Lord's Prayer should be changed from "Forgive us our debts" (Presbyterian usage) to "Forgive us our sins"* or a "similar phrase." The motion to change came from the Nebraska City Presbytery, which argued that present-day Christians "stand in need of an incessant reminder of the implications of sin and the need for forgiveness."

P: Embarrassedly discovered that, through a parliamentary error the week before, it had repealed the rule requiring a one-year wait before the remarriage of a divorced person. Actually, the Assembly had meant to strengthen the rule by requiring pastors to assure themselves of the person's "penitence for past sin and failure" (TIME, June 2), forgot to write the one-year rule into the revised provision. The Assembly will have to wait till next year to redress its mistake.

* There is biblical backing for either usage. In the Greek version of the Lord's Prayer as recorded by Matthew (6:12), the word used is opheilemata, best translated "debts" or "that which is owed" (Latin: debita). In Luke's shorter version of the prayer (11:4), the word used--hamartias--means "sins."

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