In the opinion of the General Assembly any of our church courts have the right and responsibility to bear witness against any printed publication which is circulated within their bounds, which in its judgment inculcates injurious opinions, whether the author be dead or living, or whether in our denomination or not

At its January 2012 stated meeting, Savannah River Presbytery approved an overture to be sent to the 40th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America asking that it reject “all evolutionary views of Adam’s origin. The PCA General Assembly will meet in Louisville, Ky., June 19-22, 2012.

The overture offers a number of reasons for its request, including a statement from the PCA Creation Study Report (2000):

We affirm that Genesis 1-3 is a coherent account from the hand of Moses. We believe that history, not myth, is the proper category for describing these chapters; and furthermore that their history is true. In these chapters we find the record of God’s creation of the heavens and the earth ex nihilo; of the special creation of Adam and Eve as actual human beings, the parents of all humanity (hence they are not the products of evolution from lower forms of life). We further find the account of an historical fall, that brought all humanity into an estate of sin and misery, and of God’s sure promise of a Redeemer.

Specifically, the overture asks the GA “to adopt and reaffirm the position of the PCUS General Assemblies of 1886, 1888, and 1924 as expressing the mind of this Court on the issue of the evolution and existence of the historical Adam”:

That Adam and Eve were created, body and soul, by immediate acts of Almighty power…

That Adam’s body was directly fashioned by Almighty God, without any natural animal parentage of any kind, out of matter previously created from nothing.

Following is the complete overture with its reasons:

Overture Declaring Rejection of All Evolutionary Views of Adam’s Origin

Whereas, questions about the origin and existence of Adam have become common within evangelicalism so that the June 2011 Christianity Today featured an article entitled “The Search for the Historical Adam: Some scholars believe genome science casts doubt on the existence of the first man and woman. Others say the integrity of the faith requires it”; and

Whereas, evangelicalism has seen the increasing influence of organizations such as The Biologos Forum[i] founded to defend the following view: “We have found that the methods of the natural sciences provide the most reliable guide to understanding the material world, and the current evidence from science indicates that the diversity of life is best explained as a result of an evolutionary process.”; and

Whereas, Biologos purports to be evangelical and accept the authority of Scripture but yet“[i]t accepts the modern scientific consensus on the age of the earth and common ancestry, including the common ancestry of humans”; and

Whereas, evolution continues to be a hotly debated issue in our society and churches; and

Whereas, the General Assembly of the old Southern Presbyterian Church (PCUS) adopted the declaration below in 1886, 1888, and 1924; and

Whereas, the rejection of said declaration in 1969 was a sign of the apostasy of the PCUS; and

Whereas, the Bible teaches clearly that “the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature” (Genesis 2:7, ESV); and

Whereas, the Presbyterian Church in America has confessed this truth in its Standards: “After God had made all other creatures, he created man male and female; formed the body of the man of the dust of the ground, and the woman of the rib of the man, endued them with living, reasonable, and immortal souls; made them after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness; having the law of God written in their hearts, and power to fulfill it, and dominion over the creatures; yet subject to fall” (WLC 17); and

Whereas, the report of the PCA Creation Study Committee states,

“We affirm that Genesis 1-3 is a coherent account from the hand of Moses. We believe that history, not myth, is the proper category for describing these chapters; and furthermore that their history is true. In these chapters we find the record of God’s creation of the heavens and the earth ex nihilo; of the special creation of Adam and Eve as actual human beings, the parents of all humanity (hence they are not the products of evolution from lower forms of life). We further find the account of an historical fall, that brought all humanity into an estate of sin and misery, and of God’s sure promise of a Redeemer.” (p. 2303, line 9); and

Whereas, John Aspinwall Hodge in his book What is Ecclesiastical Law as Defined by the Church Courts? has summarized the view of the Presbyterian Church throughout history in making declarations on controversial topics as follows:

In the opinion of the General Assembly any of our church courts have the right and responsibility to bear witness against any printed publication which is circulated within their bounds, which in its judgment inculcates injurious opinions, whether the author be dead or living, or whether in our denomination or not. Any church court may warn its Church against any erroneous book, even when it is not thought necessary to arraign the author as a heretic.

And, “This right is regarded as one of the most precious and powerful means of bearing testimony and of guarding the Church from error” (122–123);

Therefore, be it resolved that Savannah River Presbytery hereby overtures the 40th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America to adopt and reaffirm the position of the PCUS General Assemblies of 1886, 1888, and 1924 as expressing the mind of this Court on the issue of the evolution and existence of the historical Adam:

“That Adam and Eve were created, body and soul, by immediate acts of Almighty power…”

“That Adam’s body was directly fashioned by Almighty God, without any natural animal parentage of any kind, out of matter previously created

(1) http://www.biologos.org