In refusing to deal with Kaseman’s failure of faith, the court limited its focus to procedure. It matters not what we believe, so long as some official Presbyterian body says that what we say we believe is okay.

The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (GAPJC), often described as the Presbyterian Church’s Supreme Court, did nothing new in refusing to decide if same-sex behavior is contrary to Scripture and the confessions.

In lemming-like fashion this court has followed in the footsteps of its predecessors.

In 1981, the Rev. Mansfield Kaseman was brought to trial after he denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. The question put to him by National Capitol Union Presbytery was “Was Jesus God?” His answer: “No, God is God.” During follow-up questioning, Kaseman confirmed his heresy: “Saying, Jesus is one with God is a better way of saying it … but I, too, am one with God.” That passed muster, so the presbytery proceeded to ordain him.

Kaseman’s denial that Jesus is the Christ; “the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made,”[1] catapulted his case before the denomination’s highest court.

Would the GAPJC declare invalid the ordination of a person who would not affirm this most basic tenet of Christian faith?

Are we and Jesus equals in our “one with God” experience? Are we essentially the same, except for the fact that He was a little bit better at it in practice than we are?

The court found no fault with Kaseman’s apostasy. Instead of asking if the presbytery was right in ordaining Kaseman, it ruled that the presbytery had a right to ordain Kaseman. The heart of the issue in this case, the court said, was “the inherent powers of the presbytery.”

In refusing to deal with Kaseman’s failure of faith, the court limited its focus to procedure. It matters not what we believe, so long as some official Presbyterian body says that what we say we believe is okay.

Later, when a keynote speaker at the denomination’s peacemaking conference asked, “What’s the big deal about Jesus?” hardly a whimper could be heard from General Assembly leaders, who sought to placate protests from the pews by assuring us that they think Jesus is “unique.”

So why now are we shocked and dismayed over the GAPJC’s recent decision to allow the ordination of persons who assume the Creator’s role by re-defining sin and sexual anarchy as liberty?

Consistent with its own judicial precedent, this court refuses to address that question scripturally. The question, says this court, is not whether our ordained leaders are right in violating the First Commandment, but if they have the right to do so.

Once again, this denomination’s supremes have taught us that one can believe anything (or nothing) and be ordained by the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Source

[1] The Nicene Creed.

[Editor’s note: Some of the original URLs (links) referenced in this article are no longer valid, so the links have been removed.]