It appears – on the surface at least – that just about all of these alleged rifts/tensions continue to revolve around the issue of subscription and that those who were among the complainers appear to not want to be measured by our current confessional standards.

Not having been among those invited to attend, I was glad to see Dick Doster post an extensive story about the meeting at byFaithonline. Thank you, brother, for that important work! [Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]

After reading the story over the past couple of days, I have developed a set of questions that seem to me to remain unanswered. My hope is that those who were in attendance would be willing to try to answer them – knowing that different attendees will have different answers since we all hear things through our own grids.

1. What is acceptable to those who seek ‘Civil Discourse’? In other words, how can one be ‘forthright’ at the same time they are ‘charitable’? I have read at least five different views on the meaning of ‘speaking the truth in love’ in Ephesians 4:15 – all the way from the ‘Tough Love, Tell It Like It Is’ view to the ‘Don’t Hurt Anyone’s Feelings’ view.

2. What is the difference between a ‘deep rift’ and a ‘simmering tension’? For instance, into which of these two categories would you place any of the following issues:
– Necessary acceptance of theistic evolution
– Denial of existence of literal, individual Adam and Eve
– The use of ‘effort’ in personal sanctification
– Paedocommunion
– Federal Vision
– New Perspectives of Paul on Justification
– ‘Women can do anything an unordained man can do’
– It is OK to have women deacons
(and of course this list could be much longer)

3. In ordination exams, what is the difference between lack of knowledge and lack of precision? Who is the final arbiter in such issues? Is simply applying the PCA’s Good Faith Subscription policy that which is so worrisome to some in the PCA?

4. Have ANY of the younger men who have felt ‘pushed out’ gone to denominations other than those who are broader than the PCA, such as the EPC, RCA, etc.?

5. If PCA elders publically (in writing or in speaking) espouse views that are out of accord with the Good Faith Subscription policies of the PCA cannot ever be mentioned in public speech or writing, how can we enforce our standards? Is it not better to discuss and try to resolve the issue than to get several presbyteries to vote to force the SJC to bring such men under discipline? Is it not true that in one very well-known case when exactly that process started, a large church left the PCA, and in that leaving, some of the ministers were absolutely giddy about going to another, broader denomination that they actually were singing ‘free at last, free at last’?

IMHO, it appears – on the surface at least – that just about all of these alleged rifts/tensions continue to revolve around the issue of subscription and that those who were among the complainers appear to not want to be measured by our current confessional standards. (Please correct me if this is a bad assumption!)

If that is the case, I would strongly recommend the reading of the recent article by G. I. Williamson and bring those exact issues to Presbyteries and General Assembly. That would seem to me to be the very best way to speak the truth in love, and to have forthright and charitable conversations that could accomplish something.

If our current standards need to be modified, let’s do it – de jure, not de facto. Then, if some things are (or are not) changed, individuals can assess where they see the PCA going and then choose to remain or withdraw to a communion that better fits their sense of ministry

(It is my understanding that one of our Presbyteries will be doing exactly that in the very near future as they discuss the issue of the historicity of Adam. Perhaps many more should join in such discussions!)

Don K. Clements was ordained as a Teaching Elder in the PCA (then known as the National Presbyterian Church) in 1974 and is currently an Associate Evangelist with PEF and is a co-founder of The Aquila Report