---
title: 'Dabney: Each Generation Must Learn For Itself'
type: post
author: 'R. Andrew Myers'
date: 2025-10-05
url: https://confessional.org/blog/2025-dabney-each-generation-must-learn-for-itself
---

# Dabney: Each Generation Must Learn For Itself

“Each generation must do its own thinking, and learn for itself its own lessons in first truths and general principles. If we insist that this generation of Presbyterians shall hold our fathers’ principles on trust, and by mere prescription, the result will be that they will not hold them sincerely at all.” — [**Robert L. Dabney**](/authors/robert-lewis-dabney), “Theories of the Eldership” in *Discussions*, Vol. 2, p. 119