Answer to the form of libel now before the Free Church Presbytery of Aberdeen

Excerpt from Answer to the Form of LibelThus, in the first part of the major, I am charged with denying the infallibility and authority of Scripture; in the second part of the major, and under the first head, I am charged with holding a particular View of the institution of the Aaronic priesthood, which is said to infer denial of the in fallibility of Scripture; and m the corresponding head of the minor, I find the citations from my writings which are sup posed to prove that I hold the opinion in question. To fol low this division through all the particulars of so complex a charge would render my defence extremely cumbrous, and bury the main points at issue under the mass of details. I shall, therefore, follow the ordinary precedent of first dis cussing the statement of the offences with which I am charged; and then taking together the allegations of fact in the major and the corresponding quotations in the minor. I shall thus follow the natural procedure known to all law, considering, first, whether I am charged with a real offence under the law of the Church; and, then, whether the facts alleged against me are sufficient to constitute that offence.