by
Sylvia Dooling
In defending the decision of the Permanent Judicial Commission of the
Presbytery of Southern New England to uphold the election of Wayne Osborne
to the session of First Presbyterian Church, Stamford, Connecticut, lead
counsel John Harder said, *”We understand we are bound to adhere to the
essentials. Of course, they (the General Assembly) never define them.” *
Oh really?
When I read Mr. Harder’s assertion, my mind although sometimes fuzzy during
this particular time in my life began to search its “data base,” trying to
remember a particularly important part of the _Book of Order_.
To help me think a little faster, I turned to a jewel of a resource that
every Presbyterian should have on her/his bookshelf. Written by Jack Rogers,
it’s called _Presbyterian Creeds, A Guide to the Book of Confessions._ And
guess what? I found what I was looking for. On page 23, Rogers states
unequivocally that our Constitution “gives significant guidance on what it
is *essential* to believe” (emphasis mine). Citing Chapter II of the _Book
of Order_, he warns us of the “serious nature” of the confessional
standards, which although subordinate to Scripture are nevertheless
standards. He then reminds his readers that “The church is prepared to
counsel with or even to discipline one ordained who seriously rejects the
faith expressed in the confessions” (G-2.0200).
Next (pages 23-24), Rogers lists *ten doctrines that are essential and
necessary.*
“Two are noted as shared with the church catholic, or universal: the
mystery of the Trinity, and the incarnation of the eternal Word of God
in Jesus Christ. Two are identified with our affirmation of the
Protestant Reformation: justification by grace through faith, and
Scripture as the final authority for salvation and the life of faith.
Six are declared to express the faith of the Reformed tradition…The
six themes stated in The _Book of Order_ as characteristic of the
Reformed tradition are God’s sovereignty; God’s choosing (election) of
people for salvation and service; the covenant life of the church,
ordering itself according to the Word of God; a faithful stewardship of
God’s creation; the sin of idolatry, which makes anything created
ultimate, rather than worshipping only the Creator; and the necessity of
obedience to the Word of God, which directs us to work for justice in
the transformation of society.”
Having identified these ten essentials, he creatively describes their
function in ordering and shaping the life and faith of the Christian church.
He calls this section, “Setting the Margins,” and illustrates his point by
referring to his computer. Rogers writes:
“A word processor or personal computer has preprogrammed margins, on the
left and on the right. Within these margins, we have complete freedom to
write what we want, changing and experimenting at will. We can also
alter these margins, making them wider or narrower. But we cannot
function without some kind of margin on either side. Neither can we in
our denomination live peaceably together and move forward in mission
unless we know what is essential and necessary for us and what is the
area in which we have freedom of individual conscience.”
In his analogy, Rogers explains one reason why we are experiencing such deep
and vexing problems in our denomination. Fourteen short years after Rogers
wrote this wonderful resource, we have an elder declaring in a court of the
church that we Presbyterians functionally have no essentials to which we are
bound because the General Assembly cannot or will not define them.
Well, Mr. Harder, the General Assembly doesn’t have to define them because
they are already stated clearly and succinctly in The _Book of Order_.
Again, Rogers teaches,
“these ten doctrines are the result of prayer, thought, and experience
within a living tradition reflecting on the Word of God. It is essential
and necessary that Presbyterians understand, reflect on, and act out
their convictions regarding Trinity, Incarnation, Justification,
Scripture, Sovereignty, Election, Covenant, Stewardship, Sin, and
Obedience.”
These essential tenets and in particular, “Scripture as the final authority
for salvation and the life of faith” must be the touchstone of what is
genuinely Presbyterian. Further, we will be successful in finding unity in
the midst of our diversity only to the degree that they establish the
margins of our conversations.