Christ, Bible and extra-marital sex cited in presbytery declaration
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, March 22, 2001
The Beaver-Butler Presbytery in Pennsylvania has sent a confessional statement to the General Assembly Council that invites other congregations to join in a three-fold declaration:
- 1. Affirming that Jesus is the only way to God and salvation.
- 2. Affirming that the Bible is the “unique and authoritative witness” for the life of the church and that “there are no new revelations that show the Bible to be wrong or outdated.”
- 3. Affirming that any sexual activity outside marriage between a man and a woman is sinful and that the “we should not ordain or install” any minister, elder or deacon “involved in any unrepentant sinful behavior, sexual or otherwise.”
The statement was submitted by Summit Presbyterian Church and approved by presbytery, 46-42, on March 21.
It addresses three issues that threaten additional flight from a denomination that has lost 40 percent (more than 1.5 million) of its members in the past 40 years. The statement’s declaration that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation and a relationship with God repudiates a denomination-sponsored Peacekeeping Conference in which Dirk Ficca of Chicago, a Presbyterian minister and the keynote speaker, asked, “What’s the big deal about Jesus?”
Ficca, who is executive director of a inter-faith organization that includes self-described “neo-pagans,” argued that there are valid paths to God other than Christ.
The General Assembly Council, which governs the denomination between sessions of the General Assembly, decided against proposals that would have required that Presbyterian theology presented at denomination-sponsored events reflect classical Biblical and Reformed doctrine. The Book of Confessions concurs with what Scripture teaches: that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except by him.
A major debate resurfaced recently over the authority and interpretation of Scripture, this time linked to the agenda promoted by gay activists and their allies. Many leaders in the Covenant Network and More Light Presbyterians dismiss Biblical texts that denounce homosexual activity, contending that the writers of Scripture were wrong because they lacked today’s cultural understanding.
The Beaver-Butler statement declared any sexual activity outside of marriage to be sinful, including adultery, premarital sex and sex with a person of the same gender. The statement also said, “… we should not ordain or install any minister of the Word and sacrament who will officiate in any same-sex unions, blessing services, marriages or any other ceremony which invokes the blessing of God on sinful relationships.” address three issues that have been hotly debated by the denomination.