by Brad Isbell Every approaching annual assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America provokes posturing, positioning, and even reflection. To history appeals are made. To the founders we look. On the examples and words of great men we lean. The 2023 general assembly is no normal one—it is the 50th, of which much will be made. This middle-aged denomination looks to its Memphis meeting, not in crisis but in a state of unease, somewhat rattled after five years of controversy and the recent loss of two significant figures.
What is the constitution or form of unity when exceptions which strike at the fundamentals are so widely accepted?
The real constitution is an occult combination of the many private interpretations of our standards and BCO, and it's expression varies to pragmatically address each day's anxieties.
"One should not forget that the PCA was formed from a mixed multitude of pastors and people from a wide variety of ecclesiastical and theological backgrounds. Some had been raised in main-line Baptist or Episcopal or Methodist or Presbyterian churches. Others from liberal, or independent, or fundamentalistic, or Pentacostal, or dispensational or para-church backgrounds: they did not fully know or understand Presbyterian and Reformed distinctives, and many did not care. What mattered is they had escaped liberalism. They were content to belong to an evangelical and conservative but progressive denomination." — Paul Settle, "To God All Praise and Glory: The Presbyterian Church in America 1973-1998" pg. 55
>"To the officers of the church have been given the keys of a kingdom whose subjects, for now, reside in the house of and family of God on earth."
Absolutely.
But it's kind of discouraging that when some tangible action is taken against someone like Scott Sauls, it isn't for his theological views. That guy got longhoused. The fact that it was apparently well-deserved and deliciously ironic doesn't make it any less concerning.
What is the constitution or form of unity when exceptions which strike at the fundamentals are so widely accepted?
The real constitution is an occult combination of the many private interpretations of our standards and BCO, and it's expression varies to pragmatically address each day's anxieties.
Yes yes yes
"One should not forget that the PCA was formed from a mixed multitude of pastors and people from a wide variety of ecclesiastical and theological backgrounds. Some had been raised in main-line Baptist or Episcopal or Methodist or Presbyterian churches. Others from liberal, or independent, or fundamentalistic, or Pentacostal, or dispensational or para-church backgrounds: they did not fully know or understand Presbyterian and Reformed distinctives, and many did not care. What mattered is they had escaped liberalism. They were content to belong to an evangelical and conservative but progressive denomination." — Paul Settle, "To God All Praise and Glory: The Presbyterian Church in America 1973-1998" pg. 55
>"To the officers of the church have been given the keys of a kingdom whose subjects, for now, reside in the house of and family of God on earth."
Absolutely.
But it's kind of discouraging that when some tangible action is taken against someone like Scott Sauls, it isn't for his theological views. That guy got longhoused. The fact that it was apparently well-deserved and deliciously ironic doesn't make it any less concerning.
So much for the keys of the kingdom, I guess.