Heresy trial rejected, but minister criticized
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, October 30, 2003
Citing a lack of agreement among witnesses, an investigating committee has decided not to call for a trial of a minister accused of heresy by allegedly denying that Christ rose bodily from the grave.
In a comprehensive report to the Presbytery of Western North Carolina, the committee was nonetheless critical of the minister – W. Robert Martin III – and said Martin’s “beliefs on resurrection and ascension could and should have been more clearly articulated.”
The committee rejected Martin’s plea for vindication from accusations that caused him to “have been injured by rumor and gossip” and said: “Mr. Martin’s sometimes intemperate language in sermons errs by including derogatory comments that do not further the peace, unity and purity of the church.”
On the vindication request, the committee said it found “that Mr. Martin contributed to the controversy by failing to articulate clearly his understanding of an important Christian doctrine. Complete vindication of Mr. Martin is not possible. His public statements on the resurrection of Jesus Christ could and should have reflected the full witness of Scripture and the Confessions. They do not, however, place him outside of the Reformed tradition and he cannot properly be called a heretic.”
Martin asked that his written statement on “Christ’s Resurrection” and “Statement of Faith” be included with the committee’s report, but the committee decided not to do so. The Layman contacted Martin and asked for copies of those statements, which he agreed to send by e-mail. Two hours later, however, Martin sent an e-mail saying, “At this time I am not willing to submit any I.C. material to The Layman.”
The complaint calling for a heresy trial was initiated while Martin was still under the jurisdiction of the Presbytery of Western North Carolina, but had been approved in April by the Presbytery of Jose to become pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Palo, Alto, Calif.
The complaint was filed in May and the report of the investigating committee was read – but not distributed – at the meeting of the Presbytery of Western North Carolina on Oct. 25. But the committee’s decision had been forwarded to the Presbytery of San Jose before the reading, and Martin was installed at Palo Alto on Sept. 28.
The committee did affirm that ministers of the Word and sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA) must believe in a literal, bodily resurrection of Jesus. But it said it could not conclude precisely what Martin said that prompted the complaint.
Martin’s disputed comments about the resurrection were made while he was being examined by the Presbytery of San Jose in response to his call to the Palo Alto congregation. He was serving as pastor of Warren Wilson Presbyterian Church near Asheville when he received the call.
“There is very little agreement by some witnesses as to what he said, and others do not recall what he said at all,” the investigating committee said. The committee said it interviewed Martin and more than 50 other witnesses.
In its report, the committee focused on what Martin thought he was asked and how he responded during the examination by the Presbytery of San Jose.
The question was raised by David Rodriquez, a member of the San Jose Committee on Ministry. The investigating committee said Martin “testified that he heard the question as, ‘Do you believe in the literal, physical, bodily resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ?’ Mr. Martin answered that question initially by saying, ‘No, but,’ and Mr. Martin then attempted to explain his answer. There was a significant amount of distracting talk among persons present, and inattention to Mr. Martin’s further statements. There is very little agreement by some witnesses as to what he said, and others do not recall what he said at all.”
Martin was excused from the meeting and an “intense debate” ensued, the committee said. After the debate, the presbytery voted 57-26, with three abstentions, to accept Martin as a member of the presbytery and approve his call to First Presbyterian Church in Palo Alto.
The investigating committee said Rodriquez and others lodged a protest and that Rodriquez contacted Paul Rolf Jensen, a Presbyterian lawyer, about the case. “Mr. Jensen relied upon the statements and reports by Mr. Rodriquez and others in preparing his statement of allegations. Mr. Rodriquez did not initiate or advocate the charges in this matter against Mr. Martin. He did pursue a remedial action protesting the presbytery’s procedure, in the Synod of the Pacific, which has since been dismissed.”
The investigating committee said, “Mr. Martin has stated affirmatively to the investigating committee, under oath, that he believes in the bodily resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. He especially connects the resurrection with the church and our experience of resurrection with Christ as members of his body.”
While considering the Martin case, the five members of the investigating committee did their own study of what Scripture and the confessions say about the resurrection of Christ. Its conclusions were included in the report.
“Christian teaching has emphasized the continuity of the risen Lord with the crucified Jesus: bodily, palpable, real, objective in this physical world,” the committee said. “The tomb was empty and he appeared to his followers in human form, as in the days of his flesh. Christian teaching has also emphasized the discontinuity of the risen Lord with the humiliated Jesus; a spiritual body, exalted, enveloped by mystery, an appearance of a transfigured humanity, glorious and eternal. Thus, the paradox: The resurrection happened in history and reversed the course of history as we know it, but it transcended history. It is, was and always will be an action of God, giving life to the dead from beyond history.”