Discussions (Vol 2) - Dabney - XIX - The revised book of discipline commenced

Required reading
Discussions (Vol 2) by Robert L. Dabney (Available from Amazon or free here) - Commence 'The revised book of discipline' by reading up to the paragraph beginning: 'Chapt. V. Of process against a minister'.

My summary
Today's reading is a discussion of some of the changes proposed by the committee of the general assembly for the book of discipline.

Firstly Dabney gives his thoughts on what a disciplinable offence is.  He argues that the Westminster standards should not be the only rule and measure by which discipline is administered.

Secondly Dabney discusses who should be subject to church discipline.  He argues that all baptised persons should be subject to discipline, not only those who have made a profession of faith.

What grabbed me
I liked Dabney's argument that the Westminster standards should be the ultimate rule for church discipline: 'But let us suppose the Princeton Review is right, and that the Revised Discipline means to teach that nothing shall be a disciplinable offence except what can be proved to be such out of the Westminster standards. Then we object, secondly, that those standards do not profess to be exhaustive in their enumeration of disciplinable offences. The circumstances of mankind vary so infinitely, that if a statute book were to enumerate specifically all the offences which will arise in all time, "the world would not hold the books which should be written." A complete moral code must therefore speak on this other plan ; it must, within moderate compass, fix such general principles, and so illustrate and define them in concrete cases, that all possible forms of duty or sin may be defined therefrom " by good and necessary consequence." This is what the Bible has done. But this requires infinite wisdom, which the Westminster divines never claimed. Shall we accept the following consequence, that if perchance these fallible men forgot to enumerate, and they themselves not professing to make a complete enumeration, they were incapable of such an absurdity, some wicked act which yet God's word, the acknowledged rule of life to Protestants, clearly describes as such an offence as may be disciplined, therefore, forsooth, the sinner may commit this act as often as he pleases, and retain his church standing, unwhipt of justice? For instance, the Larger Catechism, the most comprehensive, does not condemn spirit rapping, nor lotteries, nor duelling — three prevalent abominations condemned by God in principle, and most obviously disciplinable. '

The Bible with its timeless principles is our ultimate rule for church discipline.

Next week's reading
Continue 'The revised book of discipline' by reading up to the paragraph beginning: 'Chapt. VIII. We come now to the eighth chapter...'

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.