The Presbytery of San Diego, undaunted by the notion that there are no
longer any essential tenets in the Presbyterian Church (USA), has
decided that there are – and that candidates for the ministry of
Word and sacrament will be examined and prepared accordingly.
The presbytery recently adopted a 30-page document titled “Essential
Tenets and Reformed Distinctives.” It will not be used as a litmus
test for prospective pastors, the presbytery says, but it will guide the
presbytery and its committee on ministry in the preparation and training
of candidates.
Even though the “essentials” described by San Diego are
anchored in the
Book of Order – particularly Chapter 2 –
they have come under attack from the left flank of the Presbyterian
Church (USA).
The Witherspoon Society called them the “new fundamentalism”
and said, “While anyone being ordained must ‘sincerely receive
and adopt the essential tenets of the Reformed faith,’ the
Presbyterian church has resolutely refused to specify what those ‘essential
tenets’ are.”
Despite the fact that the Presbyterian Church (USA) is – on paper –
a confessional church, the Witherspoon Society and other liberals
virulently oppose anything that resembles requiring candidates for
ordination to commit to orthodoxy.
The paper includes citations from Scripture, the
Book of Order
and
The Book of Confessions on a number of key issues, including
the authority of Scripture; God (trinity, creation, providence and
sovereignty); original sin; the incarnation of Jesus Christ; the atoning
work of Christ; and salvation by grace through faith.
It also focuses on the Reformed distinctives of election, covenant,
sacraments, sanctification and the work of the Holy Spirit, the
priesthood of all believers, the mission of the church and stewardship.
Each doctrine is presented in the form of the Barmen Declaration, with a
description of the orthodox teaching of the Christian faith and a
refutation of aberrant theology that conflicts with orthodoxy.
For instance, in the section on Scripture, after quoting the
Book of
Order, the Bible and the confessions, the presbytery’s paper
refutes arguments that undermine the authority of Scripture and declares
“what is not affirmed,” including “Any doctrine –
- that seeks to invalidate or subvert Scriptural teaching
concerning what is to be believed or how we are to live;
- that attempts to subordinate Biblical authority to any human
authority, cultural norm, or ideology – whether religious,
ecclesiastical, governmental, political, economic, psychological,
sociological, scientific, historical, philosophical, or other –
as though the church should listen primarily to another voice than
the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ as expressed in Scripture;
- that seeks or asserts a revelation from the Spirit of God which
contradicts the Bible as Word of God, or that attempts to separate
the Spirit from the Spirit-inspired words of Scripture, or that
elevates the authority or modernity of the Spirit’s revelation
above the revelation of Scripture;
- that rejects as historical fact the witness of Scripture to the
incarnation, birth, ministry, miracles, death, resurrection and
ascension of Jesus Christ (as, for example, summarized in 1
Corinthians 15:3-7 and Acts 10:38);
- that seeks to follow a “Jesus Christ” apart from the
Person, Work, and Will of Jesus Christ revealed in Scripture.
- that regards Scripture as subjectively, but not objectively, God’s
written Word, or that maintains the Scriptures contain the Word of
God, but are not in themselves the Word of God.”
The section on Scripture concludes: “Orthodox Reformed faith
does not include any notion of a Church ‘reformed and reforming’
that moves outside the boundaries of the authority of Christ and
confession of his Lordship which are clearly revealed in Scripture. Or
any ecclesiology or morality that attempts to subvert the headship of
Jesus Christ and the authority of Scripture in the interests of an ‘inclusive’
and overbroad institutional concern for ‘unity, peace, and purity.’
Jesus Christ is Lord of the church, and he rules the church through the
written word of Scripture, illumined by the Holy Spirit.”
In essence, the presbytery is trying to reclaim essentials that the
denomination’s leaders, in some ways, have officially abandoned.
Even a preface to
The Book of Confessions – a preface that
was never authorized by the vote of the required two-thirds of the
presbyteries to become part of the constitution – says the
essentials are not essential.
That 20-page preface, titled “Confessional Nature of the Church
Report,” says, “The ordination question that asks for
commitment to the ‘essential tenets’ of the confessions brings
freedom in the church at several levels. Ordained persons are free to be
‘instructed,’ ‘led,’ and ‘continually guided’
by the confessions without being forced to subscribe to any precisely
worded articles of faith drawn up either by the General Assembly or by a
presbytery.”
In other words, the preface suggests, the “essentials” are
optional. The Presbytery of San Diego suggests otherwise.
The
Book of Order still requires that candidates for the
ministry answer affirmatively the following question: “Do you
sincerely receive and adopt the essential tenets of the Reformed faith
as expressed in the confessions of our church as authentic and reliable
expositions of what Scripture leads us to believe and do, and will you
be instructed and led by those confessions as you lead the people of
God?”
But the 1997 General Assembly declared that there are no essential
tenets – or at least none that Presbyterians must subscribe to in
order to qualify for ordination, despite clear references to such tenets
in the
Book of Order, which says essential tenets “guide
the church in its study and interpretation of the Scriptures; they
summarize the essence of Christian tradition; they direct the church in
maintaining sound doctrines; they equip the church for its work of
proclamation.”
Describing its “Essential Tenets” paper, the presbytery says
it adopted “this summary of the essential tenets of the Christian
faith and of our Reformed distinctives for use in our churches,
committees and presbytery. It distills the 300 pages of
The Book of
Confessions to a helpful summary – six essentials and seven
distinctives. It was initially developed by our Committee on Preparation
for Ministry.”
The presbytery says its summary will be used:
- As a tool for instructing our congregations in the foundational
truths of our faith.
- As a reference for training our prospective church officers as
they prepare to take vows and enter office.
- As guidelines for communicating to prospective ministers our
theological expectations concerning what Reformed ministers must
sincerely believe and proclaim.
- As guidelines to be used by the accrediting bodies of presbytery
at their discretion for the theological examination and evaluation
of candidates.
It also gives a rationale for why its summary of essentials is
needed:
“First, because ‘theology matters’ – to quote the
most memorable phrase from a recent General Assembly. What we believe –
the content of our faith – matters. If it matters, we should be
able to articulate it and to explain how this truth stands against the
competing truths of the world.
“Second, because there is considerable confusion in our
denomination. We are in the midst of a theological crisis – the
result, in large measure, of a long neglect of our foundational truths.
Our church is ordaining people who do not know or believe the essential
tenets expressed in our confessions – such as the doctrine of the
Trinity, a Nicene Christology, the doctrine of Atonement, or the
conviction that people need salvation in Jesus Christ. In addition, PNCs
are nominating pastors and CPMs are presenting candidates for ordination
who cannot articulate a basic theology that reflects a knowledge of or
appreciation for our confessions or the Bible.”
The presbytery says it will not use its summary of essentials as a
guillotine. “Our tradition has always respected a candidate’s
right to declare scruples – to identify areas in which she or he
can express Biblical dissent with points of doctrine. Accordingly,
presbytery and its delegated committees have the authority and
responsibility to discern and assess whether this professed dissent is a
‘serious departure’ from the confessional standards or within
the acknowledged freedom and latitude of our theology.”
But the statement does address a growing crisis in the church, caused by
people who do not subscribe to a Reformed understanding of the faith.
“We are not called to challenge anyone’s sincerity as a
Christian or to dispute their right to believe what they choose,”
the document says. “But when a person chooses to be an ordained
Presbyterian, they must in good faith and with a clear conscience
receive and adopt our confessional identity. We do not have the right to
pick and choose the foundational truths we will believe in, with the
expectation that other foundational truths can be ignored or will soon
be changed. That is bad faith.” The presbytery’s “Essential
Tenets and Re-formed Distinctives” is available online at
www.presbyterysd.org/publications.html.