Biblical authority is issue in overture to General Assembly
The Layman Online, December 21, 2000
The Presbytery of Southern Kansas has approved an overture asking the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to focus on two issues that are at the heart of the ongoing debate over sexual standards in the denomination.
The issues are 1) “What do Presbyterians affirm when we talk about ‘the authority of Scripture’ in the Reformed tradition” and 2) “What does it mean to live and order our lives in obedience to Christ’s will as it is set forth in Scripture?”
The overture from the session of Westwood Presbyterian Church in Wichita, which the presbytery approved 62-19, does not set forth a detailed plan for considering – or resolving – those issues. It asks the General Assembly to “embark on a time of churchwide spiritual discernment.”
The overture cites the PCUSA Constitution, section G-1.0100c, which says “the Presbyterian Church (USA) is obedient to Scripture as Christ’s will.”
However, the overture adds, there appears to be “an underlying division about the definition of Biblical authority and the interpretation of Scripture with regards to the theological division in the PCUSA.”
At least one other overture on the same issue will be before the 2001 General Assembly when it meets June 9-16 in Louisville, the headquarters for the denomination. That overture, which was deferred from the 2000 General Assembly, cites a “theological impasse” in a number of categories – including Biblical authority. It was submitted by the Beaver-Butler Presbytery in Pennsylvania.
The Beaver-Butler proposal was one of several overtures referred to the 2001 General Assembly because of the 2000 General Assembly’s decision not to deal with any overtures related to ordination of self-affirming, practicing homosexuals.