By Jeff Gissing, at JeffGissing.com
Traditions –like Anglicanism or Presbyterianism–tend to decline when the arguments used to sustain them become too diffuse. Beyond such a tipping point members of the same tradition find it increasingly difficult to find any sort of “family resemblance” in other members of the same group. In fact, they may even feel a greater affinity with those outside of their own tradition (in one sense) whose sense of identity (even if different) is grounded in the same or quite similar arguments. In my own experience, there was a time when I felt that I had significantly more in common with the Franciscan Priest on campus than many other colleagues from mainline churches.
In the context of the tribe called Presbyterian Church (USA), we have effectively reached the tipping point. There is now no meaningful sense of unity or commonality to our theological identity. Such commonality as there is now almost exclusively consists of second order doctrines, beliefs, or practices. We all baptize children, for example, rather than we all believe that God is trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.