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Home , Confession of 1967, Presbyterian polity, Unconditional election

A Study of Denominations

1 Corinthians 14:33 (KJV 1900) - 33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. Origin of ’s

• The ekklesia of God • Distinctive Founder and Head • Distinctive beginning and terms to become part of • Distinctive because of the purchase price • Distinctive simplicity in worship • Distinctive organization • Distinctive work and mission The Reformed Churches

• A number of strands of Protestant churches began as a result of the : Lutheran and Anabaptist churches in Germany, Anglican (Episcopalian) churches in England, Reformed churches in Switzerland and France, and Presbyterian churches in • The Reformed Churches formed one branch of the Protestant churches that broke from the Roman Catholic Church of that day. They began in the sixteenth century in Switzerland under the leadership of Ulrich Zwingli and The Reformed Churches

• Regarded as “the third man of the Reformation” along with Luther and Calvin. • Born and raised in Switzerland. • Served as Catholic priest beginning in 1506. • In 1523 wrote “67 Articles” emphasizing salvation by faith, the authority of the , Christ as head of the church, and condemning unscriptural Roman Catholic practices. • Teachings influenced Reformed Churches. Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) Presbyterian Church- Origin

• John Calvin was born in Noyon, France, in 1509, but moved to Switzerland in 1534. • Was influenced by the Reformation ideas of Luther. • His education and his knowledge of Greek and Hebrew gave him access to what for most people remained a hidden book. His study of the Bible prompted him to write commentaries on almost every book of Scripture. • Summarized his view of the Protestant doctrine in his work “Institutes of the Christian Religion” in 1536. • It was also in where he established a social-religious John Calvin system which some called "the Protestant Church State" (1509-1564) • Teachings have influenced most Protestant denominations and form the basis of doctrine for the Presbyterian Church. Presbyterian Church-Origin

T1.—TotalTotal hereditary Hereditary depravity. Depravity This teaches that as a result of Adam's sin, all of his descendants are born totally depraved, "opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil," unable to U—do anythingUnconditional toward being Election saved. 2. . This states that God, before the L—creation,Limited unconditionally Atonement elected or predestined certain individuals to be saved. 3. . This says that since only the elected ones I —couldIrresistible be saved, then Grace died only for those who were to be saved-the elect. P4.—IrresistiblePerseverance grace. This statesOf The that Saints when God in His own due time acted upon a sinner who was among the unconditionally John Calvin elected, the sinner could not resist God's grace. He would be (1509-1564) saved no matter what. 5. Perseverance of the saints. This teaches that none of the elect, having received the grace of God, could fall away and be lost. Presbyterian Church - Origin

• Born in Haddington, Scotland and educated at the University of Glasgow • Became a Roman Catholic priest, but he was then attracted to the preaching's of Scottish Protestant reformer George Wishart. • Knox fled England in 1533 because of the religious persecution which followed the coronation of Mary, daughter of Henry VllI and went to Geneva where he studied under Calvin. • He returned to Scotland in 1559 where he spent the rest of his life establishing Calvinistic theology in Scotland. • was brought to North America primarily from Scotland and England. (1514-1572) Presbyterian Church - Origin

• In its strict sense, Presbyterianism is the name given to one of the groups of ecclesiastical bodies that represent the features of emphasized by French lawyer John Calvin (1509-1564), whose writings crystallized much of the Reformed thinking that came before him. • The most important standards of orthodox Presbyterianism are the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms of 1647. • The chief distinctive features set forth in the Westminster declarations of belief are Presbyterian church government, John Knox Calvinistic theology, and the absence of prescribed forms of (1514-1572) worship. Presbyterian Church – United States

• Presbyterians were among the earliest Reformed immigrants to America. They settled up and down the East Coast, and began to push westward into the American wilderness, founding congregations as early as the 1630s. • Presbyterians have featured prominently in United States history. • Francis Makemie, who arrived in the United States from Ireland in 1683, helped to organize the first American • By the start of the Civil War, Presbyterians had founded over a Presbytery at Philadelphia in 1706. fourth of all the colleges in the United • In 1726 William Tennent founded a ministerial “log States. college” in Pennsylvania. Twenty years later, the College of • Today, 56 colleges and universities New Jersey (now Princeton University) was established. continue to emphasize their historical • One of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, relationship with the Presbyterian Church (USA) through membership in , was a Presbyterian and the the APCU president of Princeton University from 1768-1793. Presbyterian Church – United States

• Presbyterian denominations in the United States have split and parts have reunited several times. • Currently the largest group is the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which has its national offices in Louisville, KY. • It was formed in 1983 as a result of reunion between the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (PCUS), the "southern stream," and the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (UPCUSA), the "northern stream." • The UPCUSA was formed by the merger (1958) of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, descending from the Philadelphia presbytery of 1706, and the United Presbyterian Church of North America, which had been constituted (1858) by a union of two older churches. • As of 2018, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) had approximately 1.4 million members, 9,300 congregations, and 19,000 ordained and active ministers. • Other Presbyterian churches in North America include: the Presbyterian Church in America, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America, the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, and the Presbyterian Church of Canada. Presbyterian Church – Historical Facts Office of the General Assembly – OGA.PCUSA.ORG The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

“The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) consists of two parts: Part one is The , and part two, the Book of Order, consisting of the Foundations of , Form of Government, Directory for Worship, and Rules of Discipline.” The Book of Order is Part II of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). It includes: • Foundations of Presbyterian Polity • Form of Government • Directory for Worship • Rules of Discipline Office of the General Assembly – OGA.PCUSA.ORG Presbyterian Church – The Nature and Purpose of Confessions

• “A confession is a public declaration of what a church believes. Individual Christians may and should confess their own personal faith, but a confession of faith is more than a personal affirmation of faith. It is an officially adopted statement of what a community of Christians believe.” • “These affirmations of the church's faith always have three reference points: God, the church itself, and the world. • Confessions of faith are first of all the church's solemn and thankful response to God's self- revelation, expressed with a sense of responsibility to be faithful and obedient to God • Secondly, in a confession of faith members of a Christian community seek to make clear to themselves who they are, what they believe, and what they resolve to do. • Finally, Christians confess their common faith not only to praise and serve God and not only to establish their self-identity but to speak to the world a unified word that declares who they are and what they stand for and against. Confessions thus have a social and political as well as theological and ecclesiological significance. Office of the General Assembly – OGA.PCUSA.ORG Presbyterian Church – The Nature and Purpose of Confessions Why a Book of Confessions • “For most of their history Presbyterians in the United States were guided by essentially a single confessional standard: the Westminster Confession with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms that translated it into question and answer form for educational purposes.” • “The theological reason for a book of confessions. We have just discussed the reasons why Reformed Christians cannot recognize anyone confession as a final, infallible encapsulation of true Christian faith and life for all Christians, everywhere, now and forever. A book of confessions that includes some classical Reformed confessions and leaves room for new confessions makes unmistakably clear one of the most distinctive marks of the Reformed tradition” The Book of Confessions and Ordination • “The church does not require acceptance of the church' s confessions for church membership. All who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are welcome to join and participate in fellowship. But to ensure that those who lead the church do so in faithfulness to its doctrine and form of government, the church does require ordained , ruling elders, and teaching elders to declare their adherence to the confessions of the church.” Office of the General Assembly – OGA.PCUSA.ORG Presbyterian Church – The Nature and Purpose of Confessions The Historical Limitations of Confessions • “Confessions address the issues, problems, dangers, and opportunities of a given historical situation…Even when their writers have believed they were formulating Christian truth valid for all time and places, their work has been directed not only to but limited by their particular time and place.” • “The confessions of the church, in other words, have indeed interpreted, defended, and preserved biblical-Christian truth…But at the same time, despite all good intentions, they have also distorted the truth revealed in Jesus Christ, been unable to grasp parts of the biblical witness to God's presence and work in Christ, and divided the church into churches with conflicting views of what Christian faith and life are all about. Is there any way to distinguish between the truth to which confessions of faith seek to bear witness and their inadequate witness to the truth? Christians in the Presbyterian-Reformed tradition believe they know at least how to go about this task. Their solution will be discussed in the proper place in the following section of this paper.” Office of the General Assembly – OGA.PCUSA.ORG Presbyterian Church – Modernism

The Westminster Confession Of Faith, Chpater 1, 6.004 ”4. The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the author thereof; and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.”

The , Section C, 9.29 ”The Bible is to be interpreted in the light of its witness to God's work of reconciliation in Christ. The Scriptures, given under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, are nevertheless the words of men, conditioned by the language, thought forms, and literary fashions of the places and times at which they were written. They reflect views of life, history, and the cosmos which were then current. The church, therefore, has an obligation to approach the Scriptures with literary and historical understanding. As God has spoken his word in diverse cultural situations, the church is confident that he will continue to speak through the Scriptures in a changing world and in every form of human culture.” Presbyterian Church – The Bible – The Living Word

What does it mean to say the Bible is our guide — and what if we don’t agree on what the Bible means? By David Robert Ord • “You can prove anything from the Bible,” a person who knows little about the Bible assures me. As a Presbyterian minister with a deep respect for the Bible, I recognize that there is both truth and error in that statement. Error, inasmuch as the Bible obviously can’t be used to support every imaginable viewpoint. Truth, inasmuch as Presbyterians reach different conclusions on the same issue and support their conclusions with Scripture. • “For others of us, the Bible can be used to support a variety of different beliefs and ideas because it actually contains, not a monolithic point of view, but different points of view.” • “Not only in the same denomination but also in the same congregation it is often possible to find folks who believe every word of the Bible to be factual worshiping alongside sisters and brothers in Christ who treat the Bible as true in meaning but not necessarily factual, and still others who would not even agree that the Bible is wholly true in meaning, let alone factual • “None of these viewpoints contradicts our Presbyterian Constitution…” Presbyterian Church (USA), “What we believe” - https://www.presbyterianmission.org Presbyterian Church- Organization http://www.pcusa.org

• Current Organization. – Four levels of government are prescribed for the denomination in the Book of Order. 1. Session (of a congregation). 2. Presbytery. 3. . 4. General Assembly. Presbyterian Church - Organization http://www.pcusa.org

1. Session (of a congregation). – Made up of the congregation’s and elders. – Decisions are made for the congregation. 2. Presbytery. – Made up of elders representing all of the congregations in a geographic area. – Presbytery has authority over the affairs of the local congregations in its area, including the ordination of ministers and installing of pastors, and establishing or disbanding of a congregation. Presbyterian Church-Organization http://www.pcusa.org

3. Synod. – Made up of at least three presbyteries in a geographic area. – Implements the mission of the church throughout the region and mediates conflicts between presbyteries and local churches. Presbyterian Church http://www.pcusa.org 4. General Assembly. – Highest governing body of the denomination. – Made up of commissioners elected by the presbyteries throughout the entire denomination. – The General Assembly elects a Moderator every two years to preside over its sessions. – The Book of Order offers four functions of the General Assembly: 1. Set priorities for the work of the church. 2. Guide the church at every level of its life. 3. Provide program functions appropriate within the mission of the church. 4. Establish and administer national and worldwide ministries of witness, service, growth, and development. Presbyterian Church - Organization http://www.pcusa.org

Government of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

General Assembly

Synod Synod

Presbytery Presbytery Presbytery Presbytery

Church Church Church Church Church Church Church Church – Doctrine Exposed

The root of Calvinism is the doctrine of “ and Election.” – The word “predestinate” simply means to plan or determine beforehand. There is no disagreement on the general definition – The issue is not the meaning of “predestination” but rather the object of what has predestinated. The bible speaks of the idea of “Predestination and Election” • Romans 8:29–30 (KJV 1900) 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. • Ephesians 1:4–5 (KJV 1900) 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, … 11In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: Calvinism – Doctrine Exposed

The Bible doctrine of predestination is a very simple one. • In the beginning, God foresaw that man would sin. • Man would not have the power to save himself from sin and he would need the grace of God therefore God formulated a scheme of redemption. • In this scheme, God predetermined to save a collective group or body of people (Ie. the church). • Any person can now become a part of this body by obedience to God’s scheme of redemption. That this is the Bible doctrine of predestination is proven by Paul: • Ephesians 3:9–10 (KJV 1900) 9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, (This is what is involved in predestination) who created all things by Jesus Christ: 10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church (This is the object of predestination) the manifold wisdom of God, Calvinism – Total Hereditary Depravity

Defined: This concept is associated with the doctrine of original sin. They teach that the guilt of Adam's original sin is inherited by each individual at birth. Thus, they say, we are born with a completely corrupt nature. Unregenerate mankind is positively inclined to do evil and totally unable to do anything good.

Exposed: Many plain Bible passages refute this doctrine. – Although we suffer the consequences of Adam's fall, we do not inherit a corrupt nature (Gen. 3:16-19; Rom.5:12). – Sinners stand condemned because of their own transgressions (Rom. 7:9-11), not because of the wrongs of their forbearers (Ezek. 18:20). – Far from being depraved from birth, children are models of purity and holiness (Matt. 18:1-3). Calvinism – Unconditional Election

Defined: God foreordained that certain specific individuals would be saved, while others would be lost. This choice was not based on any foreseen obedience or virtue on man's part; it rested solely on God's sovereign will. Thus the number of the redeemed is fixed and cannot be increased or diminished.

Exposed: Calvin misunderstood the Bible's teaching on predestination. Whereas the Scriptures speak of group election (Eph. 1:3-5), Calvin thought in terms of individual election. – This would negate the impartiality of God (Acts 10:34; Rom. 2:11; 1 Pet 1:17). – It also would nullify the effect of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15-16). – Makes the invitation of God foolish (Matt 11:28-30; Rev 22:17) – If Calvin's view of election is true, preaching the gospel is a waste of time! (Cf. Rom 10:13-15) Calvinism – Limited Atonement

Defined: The atoning work of Christ was limited in scope to only those specific individuals who were unconditionally elected. Since this number cannot be increased or diminished, if you were not foreordained to salvation, then the atonement made possible through the death of Christ is of no benefit to you.

Exposed: Christ’s atoning sacrifice was for all men which is clearly supported in scripture. – The doctrine ignores the fact that Christ died for all mankind (1 Tim 2:6; Heb. 2:9; 1 Jn. 2:1-2). – God has not set a limit on those who can be saved; he wants all to respond in obedience to the gospel (1 Tim 2:3-4; 2 Pet. 3:9). Calvinism –

Defined: Calvin taught that the "elect" person is saved "in prospect" in the mind of God by predestination and then saved "in fact" when God sends the Spirit into his heart. At God’s chosen time, the sinner is irresistibly drawn into his grace. This call cannot be rejected, but always results in conversion.

Exposed: There are many errors associated with this doctrine. – It destroys the concept of man's free moral agency and would make us nothing more than puppets (Gen 2:16; Deut.11:26-28; 30:19 Josh. 24:15). – It denies the true nature of God's grace (Eph. 2:8-10). – The Bible plainly teaches that we will be held accountable for how we respond to God’s word (Jn. 12:47-48; 2 Cor 5:10; Rom 14:10). Calvinism – Perseverance of Saints

Defined: This doctrine is also known as the "Impossibility of Apostasy." It affirms that a child of God cannot sin so as to fall from the grace of God and be lost in eternity. Calvin reasoned that all who are chosen by God are kept by his power. If God elected certain individuals to be saved, his will cannot be overthrown by man (not even by those elected). As a result, they will assuredly persevere to the end and be eternally saved. In fact, they must be saved.

Exposed: There are many errors associated with this doctrine. – The warns against the danger of apostasy (Gal. 5:1-4; 2 Pet. 2:20-21). – The Hebrew writer clearly teaches that it is possible to fall from a saved condition (Heb. 6:4-6) – The doctrine of "once saved, always saved" eliminated the necessity of faithfulness and godliness (Matt. 7:21; Luke 6:46; Heb 5:9).