 On theology and politics  The Presbyterian Layman Volume 34, Number 1, Posted January 24, 2001
This conclusion – remarkable for having come from a theologian – is not derived from the facts. From the same data, one could argue the opposite conclusion with equal invalidity, namely, that our theology drives our politics. Deconstructing the confessions Trying to correlate theology and politics is a complex undertaking, far more so than Johnson’s thesis suggests. Consider, for example, the origins of three documents in our denomination’s Book of Confessions. In 325, Constantine’s desire for political unity led him to convene the council that gave us the Nicene Creed. In 1560, the Church of Scotland declared its faith in response to a bloody civil war. And, in 1643, a political upheaval between Charles I and Parliament sparked Parliament’s call for the Westminster Assembly. Following Johnson’s line of reasoning, one might conclude that the Nicene Creed, the Scots Confession and the Westminster Confession were mere products of politics. Yet we know differently from reading the documents themselves – rich as they are in their expressions of timeless Christian truth. Yes, the church often has declared its faith in times of political turmoil. But the record shows that, while politics has sometimes been the occasion, it has not been the substance of the church’s Reformed confessions. The Presbyterian future Today, the Presbyterian Church (USA) is reclaiming its Biblically based, confessional heritage. While this trend may have political implications – every belief system does – its meaning will not be discerned solely by political analysis. Returning to the post-election demographics that piqued Johnson’s interest, an additional correlation is worthy of note. Counties that supported Bush and correspondingly where Presbyterians disapproved of homosexual behavior also scored highest in membership growth and per capita giving. Conversely, in most of the areas where homosexual activism has been promoted by church leaders, the Presbyterian Church is dying. Extrapolate that trend over just a few years and you will see a very different Presbyterian Church (USA) from that which we have experienced in the past three decades. Captive to culture? I do not believe that, as Johnson suggests, these growing Presbyterian majorities are succumbing to politics. On the contrary, I suggest that Presbyterians, having suffered the results of their denomination’s cultural captivity since the 1960s, are now choosing a path that is theologically based. Mainstream Presbyterians do not buy the notion that truth equals opinion and morality means preference. We do not insist that the Bible conform to its interpreters. We do not agree with departing church bureaucrats that “choice” is all that matters. We do not reduce God to a mere force within each individual. Presbyterians know that the cult of the imperial self is incompatible with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These are matters of faith, not politics. Do these theological convictions suggest implications for the way growing Presbyterian majorities will engage the political order? Of course they do, for Presbyterians historically have expressed their theological convictions through involvement in community affairs. But however our convictions take shape, it is too simplistic to call them “politics.” Something much more profound is going on. |
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