In ten years as a member of this Presbytery, I have had come into my possession a document as part of our Presbytery meeting packets a piece that has the single greatest concentration of Biblical and Confessional sourcing of anything in my experience.
I am thrilled to have it, but the circumstances are a little depressing.
The references come out of a lengthy transcript of work done by the Permanent Judicial Commission of our Presbytery. In other words, it comes out of the courts of the church. The details of the case are not important. It struck me that the most rigorously biblical and confessional examination of our work as a church comes from its legal branch.
Judicial process is very highly developed in the PCUSA. I would direct you to Appendix A of the 2007-2009 Book of Order where there are more than 50 forms on more than 33 pages to make sure due process is carried forward.
I can't help but wonder if we carried on with that same rigor in all our activities, if life might not be very different in our church. There was a news item from the PCUSA newswire about a consideration before our GA to get a better translation of the Heidelberg Catechism. Amen! Amen! Amen! I grew up on that one in my Reformed heritage.
One commentary I have seen from the Reformed Right is that modern biblical criticism, by its very nature of applying general literary standards to the bible, have de-emphasized its unique and divine placement in our churches. That de-emphasis has lent itself to a decline in knowledge of the bible, much less the Confessions that we draw our primary biblical interpretation from.
What really frustrates me is a nagging thought, in my more ironic moments, that our judicial process has to be so rigorous because if it is not, it opens itself up to countersuit, perhaps even lawsuit in the secular courts. So we are thorough to cover our behinds, what does that say about our priorities?
No comments:
Post a Comment