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August 2002 letters Saltless theology August 29, 2002 Mr. Peterson's bio lists all his endeavors in and out of his Christian life for his new job with a gay advocacy group. As for this elder, I might try his pizza or deli sandwich (his businessman experience listed), but there is certainly no salt in his theology. Bob Campbell Kingman, Ariz. Persecution in reverse August 29, 2002 The Rev. Paul Peterson claimed that the PCUSA's (and by extension, the majority of Christians') position that homosexual practice is sin and that those who impenitently commit that sin ought not be ordained to church leadership positions is tantamount to fostering an environment in which brutal acts of violence are perpetrated against practicing homosexuals. Apart from the extreme unlikelihood that there is any Presbyterian who approves of perpetrating violence against homosexuals, Peterson's reasoning is flawed. Christians who denounce the practice of homosexuality as a sin do so from the conviction that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, authoritative for life and morals. Christians are under obligation to teach the whole counsel of God, and that includes the obligation to speak the counsel the Lord has revealed through the Scripture regarding homosexuality. Christians are likewise under this same obligation in geographic locations in which they form a small minority as in those locations where they comprise a majority. There have been incidents in which Christians, speaking out against homosexual practice, have been persecuted by homosexual communities, even with the threat of physical violence. If Peterson's analogy is correct, then one would have to conclude that those who support the legitimization of homosexual practice are by extension guilty of the persecution of Christians (and others) who believe and preach that homosexual practice is sin, by fostering an environment in which persecution against these Christians is condoned, if not encouraged. Indeed, one might even construe Peterson's words as inciting homosexual rights advocates to violence against Bible-believing Presbyterians. Although I am reasonably certain that this was not Peterson's intention, I would counsel him against using such sweeping, baseless, judgmental, inflammatory (if not outright slanderous) rhetoric in the future. Loren J. Golden Overland Park, Kan. Has a corner been turned? August 29, 2002 The option that Paul Peterson has taken – to leave – is one that has been open to everyone else who agrees with him. In that sense, he's following a course we might wish others followed. He can try to link (un)like-minded Presbyterians to the death of Matthew Shepherd if he wishes, but that only sensationalizes and cheapens the young man's tragic murder. Perhaps this a sign that a "corner has been turned" in the controversy, with the most vocal leaders deciding it's time to go elsewhere. No one questions the compassion or passion that Peterson and others feel about this issue, even as we disagree with them. It's possible to feel deep emotions about a lot of subjects and be wrong on the facts. Had they chosen to frame the debate in terms of "How can the church minister to homosexuals?" instead of "How can we force the idea of homosexual ordination and marriage upon the church?", Peterson might not have been in a position where he felt he had to leave. As often as The Layman is tarred and feathered for "having an agenda", you'd think the "other side" might take the time to consider the "log in their own eye." Rev. Kevin Jennings Taylor Ridge, Ill. Body of Christ must remain faithful August 29, 2002 Paul Peterson would do some of us a service by leaving the ministry and doing another kind of work. The Holy Bible is clear on the gay lifestyle, but there are those who do not believe that the Holy Bible is the Word of God and seek to be their own god. God is will judge and the body of Christ must be faithful to the Holy Bible on what it teaches on the gay lifestyle. Lou S. Nowasielski Wilmington, Del. The saved and the unsaved August 29, 2002 I have news for Pastor Peterson and his friends. There are only two groups in any church. There are saved sinners and there are unsaved sinners. It is as simple as that. Pete Simpson Bloomington, Minn. Leith: 'Greatest Presbyterian theologian of our generation' August 20, 2002 In my opinion John Leith was the greatest Presbyterian theologian of our generation. I became acquainted with him while working on the Brief Statement of Faith over ten years ago. I had several chances to visit with him during his visits to Princeton and he spoke at our church a number of years ago. John Leith represented the Presbyterian Church at its best. Thank God for him. Paul Leggett Pastor Grace Presbyterian Church Montclair, N.J. Article on Leith's funeral appreciated August 20, 2002 Thank you so much for your news article on Dr. Leith's funeral and particularly for Bill Wood's remarks. Due to renovations at my church – all our computers were down for two days and my e-mail was unavailable – I did not hear about his death until too late for me to attend. As one of Dr. Leith's students – perhaps even more as a little boy back in the '50s when he was my pastor in Auburn – I am so very sorry and sad not to not to have been able to go. I very much feel that I should have been there, so again, I just wish to thank you for giving me the chance to grieve and at least experience vicariously what that would have been like. Jim Ferry First Presbyterian Church Garner, N.C. John Leith served the Presbyterian Church faithfully August 20, 2002 To God be the glory and praise for the life and transparent ministry of Dr. Leith to the faculty and students at Union Theological Seminary. All who experienced his lectures and his way of unfolding the Reformed faith will attest to his deep abiding love of the church he served so faithfully. His message is one of transparency of faith and endeavor and the ability to translate this into a living statement of faith. I was truly blessed to have been part of his classes from 1964 to 1967. May God's abiding peace comfort all who surrender him into the loving embrace of our Heavenly Father who has declared, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." Rev. Gilbert J. Fitzsimmons Knoxville United Church Pittsburgh, Pa. Does PCUSA reflect the marks of the true church? August 20, 2002 In the July 19 article titled "Assembly votes not to enforce constitution," I read the following with great trepidation: "The 214th General Assembly disapproved without comment an overture that would have required a Vermont congregation, which has been openly defiant of the 'fidelity/chastity' ordination standard for more than two years, to obey the constitution." As a Christian and a Presbyterian, though I am now in another denomination, I would remind the PCUSA General Assembly and the denominational leaders of the "marks of the church" as framed by the Reformers. The true church: 1. Preaches the Word of God truthfully 2. Administers the Sacraments rightfully 3. Disciplines its members (and its congregations) properly I will not presume to level any accusations, but I beseech my Christian brothers and sisters who are still in the PCUSA to sincerely consider these marks of the true church and whether the PCUSA meets the marks. Robinson W. Mitchell Bartlett, Tenn. PCUSA drowning in political correctness August 16, 2002 Rus Howard speaks for many who see the PCUSA drowning in tolerance, inclusiveness, peace and all the other words that characterize a denomination that puts political correctness ahead of commitment to our Lord. Our national leaders wink at constitution violators and attack Confessing Churches seeking to be obedient to God. Though in the minority, they use their positional power to make a mockery of dedicated and obedient Christians; at the same time turning their backs on the God who ordained them for service. When are we the ministers, officers and laymen going to say "enough?" Rus says it well when he describes us as fence sitters, complacent to just watch the tragedy as it unfolds before us. The time to take a stand on faith is well past. Let's roll! Bill Arthur Tucson, Ariz. Meaning of 'diversity' has changed August 16, 2002 The liberal wing of the PCUSA is attempting to use the side door to get the denomination to endorse diverse views which are unbiblical. When I joined this denomination in 1958, diversity meant you were accepted regardless of race, color, national origin or economic status. No longer. Diversity advocates want me to accept homosexuality, adultery, sex outside of marriage, partial birth abortion, and any unbiblical behavior which gratifies their desires. If their views are rejected, we are accused of creating schism and disunity in the church. Conferences on Unity in Diversity are merely a ploy to promote their same old tired agenda which has caused membership to decline drastically. Jack Vanderbleek Elder, Northeast Presbyterian Church St. Petersburg, Fla. No mention of Jesus from pulpit August 16, 2002 PCUSA clergy are, I believe, ordained as ministers of the Word and sacraments. It seems to me that being a minister of the Word should include proclaiming the Word made flesh to dwell among us from the pulpit. Yet for two consecutive Sundays, July 28 and August 4, 2002, the sermons preached at Fourth Presbyterian in Chicago never named Christ. Not once anywhere in the sermons was the man Jesus named. When I mentioned this to an associate at work he said it was as if he was asked to talk about horse racing and never mentioned horses. It does seem reasonable to expect that, in a church purportedly Christian, Christ would be mentioned in the sermons. I pray daily for the Lord to spread his grace more generously at Fourth Church in Chicago, to call more people there to follow him and glorify his name. I leave it in the hands of the Almighty to decide if he is best served by revival in the PCUSA or by it's demise. Ron McCormick Philadelphia, N.Y. Leith stood for the truth of the Gospel August 16, 2002 While I was never very close to Dr. Leith (he could be rather intimidating at times), I always admired his stand for the truth of the gospel. He also was extremely quotable. My favorite Leith line – "The theological content of the sermon is in direct disproportion to the number of colors in the robe." Powell Sykes Pastor, Westminster Presbyterian Burlington, N.C. John Leith: 'Well done, good and faithful servant' August 16, 2002 Parker Williamson's tribute to Dr. John Leith does, indeed, describe the man quite well. Those of us fortunate enough to have studied under him and came to know him as a mentor and a friend recognize the reality of that portrait. Dr. Leith's faithfulness and integrity make him something of a landmark in the history of the Presbyterian Church. Like a large rock within a slow-moving stream, Dr. Leith remained firm in his faith, his commitment to scholarly excellence, and his love and service to the church. In the current churning of the theological currents of the PCUSA, change is lifted up as the hallmark of faithfulness. Indiscriminant change, however, can be simply another means to apostasy or a corruption of true faith. Dr. Leith was probably considered a moderate to liberal in his early ministry in Alabama Presbytery for his stance on racial issues in the old P.C.U.S., and he held firm to his beliefs on that issue even when faced with various costly risks. It was a part and parcel of the faith which he had received from the Word of God and from his studies of Reformed theology. The emerging radicalism in theology that came encroaching in the 1960s was not, and it is fitting to realize that it was in large part because of John's resistance to the passage of the Confession of 1967 as making too much room for possible weakening of confessional standards and being too congratulatory and self-affirming for a church not in any real theological crisis, as earlier confessions had, that kept that Confession from being adopted by the P.C.U.S. By the early 1980s, when I entered Union, John was considered a curmudgeonly conservative. But just as many lay people probably understood and came to support John for his stance on race issues for theological reasons, so many in the church then – and still today – have more in common with John Leith than with the Presbyterian leadership. John rang the fire bell of approaching theological irrelevancy and outright harm to the church from ill thought-out and overly present day culture-influenced theology as it pertained to denominational leadership and particularly to theological education in the Presbyterian Church. Even his beloved Union, however, is now succumbing more and more to such watered-down and ultimately unsupportable theology as great teachers like John, James Luther Mays, the Achtemeiers and others retire. One can't help but wonder if the stream of the Presbyterian Church which flowed to and then passed by John Leith in pursuit of new and more self-congratulatory channels will not ultimately take a bend which will lead it to spill out onto a desert waste and dry up. John tried to form a barrier to keep the stream in well-established and reliable channels that flow toward the fruitful fields of the Lord. Now it is up to his former students and admirers to sink down their own rock-ribbed foundations and challenge the streams of current history. Thanks be to God for the life of John Leith. Deserving is he to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Rev. Scott R. Mackey Fort Worth, Texas Writer believes Leith was correct August 16, 2002 It is with sadness, yet joy, that Dr. John Leith has been ushered into the presence of the Lord, which is Heaven's gain and the Body of Christ's loss. It is gratifying to know Dr. Leith was a student of John Calvin, something the church needs to rediscover. My request to all would be that we pray for the Leith family during their time of sorrow. As for God, his way is perfect (Psalm 19). Prof. Leith was correct in teaching that the primary purpose of the church of Jesus Christ is to proclaim the Gospel of Christ; not a social, politically correct club at Christ's expense, but to warn the lost of Eternal Punishment by rejecting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The Confessions, Book of Order and even in the Holy Bible will confirm what the purpose of the church should be to the Body of Christ and to a dying world. Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; The Book of Acts and Romans. When the church of Jesus Christ starts becoming the church according to the Holy Bible, God will bless, but until than, the church is becoming the Grave Yard of the Dead under the Tree of Death (Genesis 3). Lou. S. Nowasielski Wilmington, Del. The greater crisis lurks beneath the surface August 16, 2002 If only 38 percent of Presbyterian pastors believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation, then this year of calm and peace only betrays a greater crisis beneath the surface of our denominational debates over theology and sexuality. Leslie Newbigin once said, I believe, that "if the gospel is not true for everyone, it is not true for anyone." As a pastor in our denomination this lack of clarity on the centrality of the gospel is most alarming and soul-sickening. Todd Baucum Enterprise, Ala. The three confessions are a heresy August 16, 2002 The three "confessions" are a heresy! Look at them again: "... which reaffirmed three major tenets of the Christian faith: A. That Jesus Christ alone is Lord of all and the way of salvation. B. That holy Scripture is the triune God's revealed Word, the Church's only infallible rule of faith and life. C. That God's people are called to holiness in all aspects of life. This includes honoring the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, the only relationship within which sexual activity is appropriate." By affirming these three, and none other, are we not also affirming that all other commands of God are of minor importance? How about Micah 6:8? Nothing in that part of Scripture is contained in the three "confessions." Even more – the third "confession" does not at all suggest that polygamy – or even polyandry – are not "OK." By setting up these three, as stated, all you do is cause the PCUSA to look as a laughingstock in the eyes of non-Presbyterians. And some Presbyterians also. John Burgeson Denver, Colo. Abortion sanction 'hypocrisy of the highest order' August 12, 2002 After reading the article about the General Assembly sanctioning late-term abortions, my spirit seemed to rise up within me. How can the leadership of our denomination say they are concerned with the eternal life of the lost when they endorse taking the physical life of the unborn? This is hypocrisy of the highest order. How can the General Assembly side with the culture and negate the Word of God in the name of "choice?" There is no Biblical basis for their decision. How long will they (we) "play God" in determining the life and death of those who have no voice – in particular the barbaric procedure that is partial-birth abortion? Would Jesus advise a woman in dire economic straits to abort her unborn child? How will they ever justify this decision before a Creator of the universe who came to bring life, not death? It is time to rise up, take a stand and "speak for those who cannot speak for themselves" (Proverbs 31:8). Ron Zielinski Wenatchee, Wash. |
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