Letters to the Editor - December 2001

Letters to the Editor *The Layman* Volume 34, Number 7, Posted November 30, 2001
Rogers still doesn’t get it The moderator certainly gets his hackles up when things don’t go his way. I will admit he is consistent: He sure doesn’t like the CCM and hasn’t since its inception. He still doesn’t get it, does he? He’s kicking against the bricks and the church will stand and withstand his attacks, half-truths and innuendo. Ken Tazelaar Waukegan Panic brewing over CCM There is obvious panic brewing in Louisville over the Confessing Church Movement. Such harsh comments and unfounded accusations from Jack Rogers only prove the legitimacy and effectiveness of this grassroots movement. Let us recognize, however, that this battle is not about perception or accusation, but truth and the historic representation of orthodox Christianity within the Presbyterian Church. Nathan Leaman First Presbyterian Church Oostburg, Wis. Lost under Satan’s rubble The article in the July/August Horizons should be titled “Fornification 101” and as a prerequisite course to “Adultery 101.” For a “Christian publication,” this did not reach out with the Word of God. It was a denial and a rebuke of the Word. It was clear from the article that the writer was pleased with the acts committed and with herself, but it hardly showed much to please God or to instruct young people with. If this woman, listed as a Presbyterian, has the answer to true love in the Christian faith, I am hopelessly lost under a mountain of Satan’s rubble. Bob Campbell Kingman, Ariz. There he goes again Just when I thought our moderator had hit a new low, Jack Rogers pops off another, even more blatant attack on the CCM. In attacking the CCM and PLC for having a “political” agenda, Rogers employed a tactic used by the radical left to take over social institutions since the 1960s. Political ends, they suggest, are inappropriate for institutions committed to doing good. Inevitably, their definition of “political” is “contrary to our agenda.” The facts of the past half century show that a leftist political agenda based on the pagan culture du jour has taken over the church. When Jack Rogers declares he is in the “center” of the church, he is invoking a standard tactic of the political left: defining the center to make the right seem more extreme to the vast majority of the church who are uninformed. Gary Loftis Markham Woods Pres. Church Lake Mary, Fla. Review lauded …partially Robert P. Mills did an excellent job in his recent review of Robert Gagnon’s book. However, his comment, “Despite Gagnon’s obvious commitment to the authority of Scripture, evangelical readers might be disappointed by the book’s lack of a concise affirmation of the Bible as the Word of God. They might also find Gagnon unduly deferential to the canons of redaction criticism (read: writing to cover his scholarly hide);” is unnecessary. Gagnon proves his fidelity to Scripture as the Word of God by his meticulous research, careful scholarship and spiritual discernment. When one writes so well and so carefully, there is no need for express orthodox formulae or evangelical shibboleths. The proof is in the work. Would that were true for all our works before God. Joseph Cejka Minister member Presbytery of San Joaquin Upside down theology Let’s see: Those who hold to the revelation of Scripture, 3,500 or so years of understanding, the clear teachings of the confessions and the order of creation are the ones causing the so-called sinful schism. And those who have thrown over all of the above in advocating what is unequivocally sinful are not in sin and not causing schism. Hmmmm, north is south, right is wrong, and up is down. Yeah, I get it. So, pastoral means for Moderator Jack Rogers and his neighborhood those who disagree with him are stupid because they are being duped by “the revelation of Scripture, 3,500 or so years of understanding, the clear teachings of the confessions, and the order of creation.” Those who agree with him are the “enlightened ones.” They are 21st century gnostics because they have special knowledge and know more than “the revelation of Scripture, 3500 or so years of understanding, the clear teachings of the confessions, and the order of creation.” Same old song over and over again, Mr. Rogers and his neighbors might say. Yes, it is. And it is the same old Lord of all, Savior of the elect, coming Judge of the quick and the dead, who changes not and whose revelation is steadfast. And the latest diatribe from Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood is the same old tired bombast. Be not fooled, Mr. Rogers. God is not mocked. David A. Medeiros Stoneham, Mass. What will be left? I am not a scholar, let alone a Biblical scholar, but the article about the Rooted and Grounded in Love Bible study says to me that works alone will save. Lutherans will undoubtedly be surprised to learn this. I can’t help wondering what, if anything, of Christianity in the PCUSA will be left when the General Assembly is finished destroying our Presbyterian denominational beliefs and practices. I have already resigned as an elder of my church and my family and I are searching for a church that still is Christian. Jack Kime Maryville, Ill.





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