Book Review A Whiff of Heresy: Samuel Angus and the Presbyterian Church in New South Wales Susan Emilsen; A Whiff of Heresy: Samuel Angus and the Presbyterian Church in New South Wales (Kensington, NSW, Australia: New South Wales University Press, 1990), 342 pages. Review by Jeff McDonald Wednesday, November 30, 2005 This volume chronicles the indifferent attitude that judicatories in the Presbyterian Church of Australia had toward the blatant heresy of Samuel Angus during the 1930s. Emilsen explores the historical and intellectual reasons behind why Australian Presbyterians stressed theological tolerance and why the church rejected the complaints and concerns of evangelical Presbyterians. Many of the issues described in the book relate to the current controversies in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Samuel Angus (1881-1943) grew up in Ireland and studied at Queens University (Galway, Ireland), Princeton Seminary and Princeton University, where he received his Ph.D. While studying in the United States, Angus came to believe that higher criticism of the Bible discredited the views of the Princeton theologians. Later, Angus did further studies in the German universities of Marburg and Berlin and became an expert in German Biblical and theological views. In 1914, he was called by the New South Wales Assembly (Australia) to be a professor of New Testament at its theological hall in Sydney. Once in Australia, Angus formed a club with other progressive-minded theologians from other theological colleges, naming themselves "The Heretics" and reading papers and discussing theological ideas in secret. During the 1920s, evangelicals in New South Wales expressed concern about Angus's liberal views, but no action was taken against him. Many Presbyterians, by the end of the decade, were proud to call a scholar such as Angus as their own. In the early 1930s, however, his views began to be criticized by Methodists, Roman Catholics and Baptists. The Methodists had several students at the Presbyterian Theological Hall, and they formed a task force to investigate Angus' views. In 1932, a retired evangelical Presbyterian pastor petitioned the New South Wales Assembly to look into the views of the professors at the theological hall, but the assembly took no action. Late in the year, Robert McGowan – a well-known evangelical pastor and former moderator of the state assembly – took the lead in the anti-Angus movement. "Angus's German mystery religion school, which made Jesus a prophet who died a martyr's death, was in [McGowan's] estimation 'neither original nor unanswerable,'" Emilsen writes. McGowan, who was knowledgeable in Biblical archeology and history, believed that Angus could be answered by "front-rank, world-famous, believing scholars quite as able as Angus." In 1933, McGowan expressed his concern in the Sydney press, and asked the Sydney Presbytery to send an overture to the New South Wales Assembly to inquire into Angus's views. McGowan proceeded against Angus through various judicatories of the church. At one point, the General Assembly of Australia appointed McGowan to a task force that would investigate Angus. The task force recommended that the Sydney Presbytery proceed with judicial action. While the presbytery was considering taking action against him, Angus published a book titled Truth and Tradition. In it, Angus asserted that the Calvinist God was a "Divine Sultan" and that the Trinity must be dismissed as incomprehensible and irrelevant. He also argued that the virgin birth was historically impossible and that orthodox views on the atonement were untenable. Angus wrote that Jesus was the divine Son, but not to be equated to the Father, and that the physical resurrection should be strongly challenged. With the publication of this book, his supporters knew Angus was in trouble. Emilsen writes that it is impossible to "conjecture" why Angus published it while the church was investigating his views. Despite the book, the 1934 New South Wales Assembly ruled only that Angus had made some unfortunate references to some of his opponents and that he should be more careful in his statements. After this decision, Angus became ill and action against him did not commence again until 1936. McGowan continued to urge the church to take action against him, but ultimately he was unsuccessful. Angus died in 1943. Emilsen writes that, for many Australian Presbyterians, heresy trials were worse than the alleged heresies themselves. Many Presbyterians believed that doctrinal controversies hurt the life of the church and prevented the church from doing what it really needed to do. The majority agreed with Angus that Jesus was not to be debated, but followed. McGowan warned the church against such theological indifferentism but, ultimately, Australian Presbyterians were unable to say one way or the other whether Angus' views represented heresy. This book serves as a historical reminder that a church without clear theological boundaries becomes deeply divided and, ultimately, fractures. In 1977, liberal and moderate Presbyterians joined with Congregationalists and Methodists to form the Uniting Church of Australia. The remaining one-third of the Presbyterian Church of Australia – made up of evangelicals, confessional conservatives and some Scottish nationalists – decided to continue the present-day Presbyterian Church of Australia.

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