Marrow Controversy - Committee For Purity of Doctrine Report

Committee For Purity of Doctrine Report

At the May 1719 General Assembly, an existing "Committee for Purity of Doctrine" was instructed to "enquire into the publishing and spreading of Books and Pamphlets, tending" to the spread of doctrines "inconsistent with our Confession of Faith" and to call such authors to account. The committee's report, submitted in May 1720, strongly condemned the book as Antinomian. The Assembly overwhelmingly approved this report, prohibited all ministers of the Church of Scotland from recommending The Marrow in any way, and instructed them to warn their people against reading it. This, of course, had the effect of advertising a previously obscure book to people throughout Scotland and many proceeded to buy a copy and to read it carefully.

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