Constitutional Presbyterians
Theological
principles
of constitutionalists
By John H.
Adams
The Layman
Online
Tuesday, November
7, 2006
GREENVILLE, S.C. –
Richard Burnett, a professor of systematic theology at Erskine
Theological Seminary, described the theological underpinnings of
Constitutional Presbyterians – but, he warned his audience, "it
doesn't fit on a bumpersticker."
Constitutional Presbyterians have drafted a "Theological
Declaration," which Burnett described as having "no official
status or authority," being "deeply flawed … strictly
provisional … subject to all sorts of errors, misunderstandings and
ambiguity" and "in no way a substitute for, an alternative to,
or in competition with anything said in our Book of Confessions."
Furthermore, he added, "being a Presbyterian means more than what
we're saying … but, at the same time, it "doesn't mean less."
After his modest assessment of the declaration, Burnett focused on what
he called the Cliff's Notes version of 13 articles:
- 1. "We don't get to name God anything we please. God names
himself. That's what the Bible says. The God we worship is 'the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.' Calling God the 'creator, redeemer and
sustainer' doesn't cut it. That's a job description."
- 2. The Trinity is not God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. "The
Trinity is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit," he said, noting
that "the Father" has dropped out of many mainline
churches "because they say they've had bad experiences with
fathers. … But the good news of Jesus Christ is that our true
Father is not always angry like many earthly fathers, nor is he lazy
or permissive like many earthly fathers."
- 3. "The councils of Nicea and Chalcedon gave us faithful
descriptions of who Jesus Christ is according to Scripture, and they
ought to be taken seriously. And, yes, salvation is in no other name
that Jesus Christ our Lord."
- 4. The Holy Spirit is a "who" and not an "it."
"The Holy Spirit is none other than the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
We don't believe in the Force."
- 5. "Many of us have forgotten why the church exists, namely,
not for herself, but for the world … Liberals today tend to
falsely identify the visible Church with buildings and institutions.
Evangelicals tend to falsely spiritualize the Church as if visible
structures and unity don't really matter. Both are wrong and both
risk dividing the Church."
- 6. "Many of us have forgotten how this business of being
Protestant got started in the first place. We've forgotten that
we're under the Word; apart from freedom under the Word, we have no
true freedom as Christians."
- 7. "Some in the Church today think they can know the will of
God or the mind of Christ better than the prophets and apostles.
Jack Rogers and members of the PUP Task Force … think they know
it better than the clear and unambiguous witness of the Church for
2,000 years and the overwhelming consensus of Biblical
interpretation … so much for being connectional!"
- 8. "We might experience God through extraordinary means,
but we ought not to neglect or fail to prioritize what our tradition
calls the 'ordinary means of grace,' namely, the reading and
preaching of Scripture and communal and private prayer."
- 9. "We've got to put a stop to these drive-by baptisms and
learn what it means to be a covenant community again. We've got to
learn how to catechize again."
- 10. "Justification and sanctification always go together and
never should be separated, as any Reformed believer should know.
Salvation is not simply a matter of our hearts, but of our minds,
our souls and our bodies."
- 11. "Only sinners can be members of the Church. Nobody else
should be allowed. And this business of taking up the cross is not
just what ordained people are called to do; it's what all Christians
are called to do."
- 12. "Clifton Kirkpatrick is not the head of the church.
Jesus Christ is. He is the one who defines what ministry is, not
Louisville. The Presbyterian Church went 150 years in this country
without any national office and, believe it or not, managed to do
ministry anyway. … It's probably a good idea to remember that
on the Last Day it won't be Louisville asking what we did with the
talents given to us. It'll be the Lord."
- 13. "Being Presbyterian means being governed by elders.
We've got to rediscover the office of ruling elders. If the elders
don't rise up and take back this church, we might as well be
Episcopalians or Methodists."
A clear theological identity, Burnett said, is needed today "because
I think our very identity, not only as Presbyterians, but as Christians,
may well be at stake."
He quoted theologian Ulrich Mauser who once told him, "National
Socialism had devastating consequences for the Church and for the World,
but sometimes I wonder if the prevailing ideologies of this country will
not ultimately prove to be more devastating."
Burnett added, "My point is: Constitutional integrity requires that
we say not only yes to what we affirm but we say no to what we reject.
The no exists for the sake of clarity, for the sake of definiteness."
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