oly ministry; and to
avoid all sectarianism and schism in the Church.

_National Protestant Church of Geneva_.

[Historical Changes in the Church of Geneva.]

During the 16th century, from 1536 onwards, the National Protestant
Church of Geneva was in constant turmoil through the insistence on, and
the opposition to, the doctrines laid down by Calvin in his Confession
of Faith and System of Ecclesiastical Ordinances. The 17th century is
marked by the conflicts of Calvinism and Arminianism. After numerous
variations, the oath of consecration was, in June 1725, changed hack to
the form provided by the Ecclesiastical Ordinance of 1576: "You swear to
hold the doctrine of the holy prophets and apostles, as it is contained
in the books of the Old and New Testaments, of which doctrine our
Catechism is a summary ". This oath remained in force for nearly a
century, till 1806. "It was asserted in the discussion (in the Assembly)
that no one should be forced to follow entirely Calvin's Catechism. It
is further expected that the candidates for the ministry should be
requested not to discuss in the pulpit any striking or useless matter
which might tend to disturb the peace. At this time, the Confession of
Faith of the 17th century was abolished to return to that of the 16th
century, interpreting the latter with much freedom. The Lower Council
ratified this decision, but ordered the Assembly to keep the most
absolute silence upon this subject, especially in the presence of
strangers." In 1788, the Assembly adopted a new Catechism, containing
numerous points of divergence from the orthodox Catechism of Calvin,
which it superseded with the sanction of the Lower Council. In 1806, the
new formula of consecration threw out the Catechism; it ran thus--"You
promise to teach divine truth as it is contained in the books of the Old
and New Testaments, of which we have an abridgment in the Apostles'
Creed". In 1810, after long deliberation, there was published a revision
in the latitudinarian and utilitarian sense of the Larger Catechism. In
the same year, the Apostles' Creed was thrown out of the pledge of the
ministers, which now read thus: "You promise ... to preach, in its
purity, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, to recognise as the only
infallible rule of faith and conduct the word of God, as it is contained
in the sacred books of the Old and New Testaments". Presently, however,
in 1813, a religious revival led to dangerous discussi