Prayer for the Dead?

We should not pray for the dead. As the Westminster Confession of Faith puts it, "Prayer is to be made for things lawful; and for all sorts of men living, or that shall live hereafter: but not for the dead..." (WCF 21.4).

Prayers for the dead in the teaching of the Roman church are offered for those deceased Christians who are imperfectly purified and therefore in purgatory, that they might be purified by making satisfaction for their sins and be forgiven the temporal penalties of their sins, achieving the holiness necessary to enter heaven. It commends prayer, Eucharistic sacrifice, almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1031-1032, 1414). 

The Roman church appeals to 2 Maccabees 12:39-46 for the support of this practice. First, we Protestants deny that this is inspired and canonical Scripture, not being among those oracles of God that was delivered to the Jews before Christ's coming (Rom. 3:2), nor part of the apostolic New Testament. It, along with the rest of the "Apocrypha," was not received by the Jews as canonical during the time of Christ, and was of disputed authority in the early church. The apocryphal writings were only dogmatically received as canonical by the Roman church at the Council of Trent in 1546, in response to the Reformation. Second, the author of 2 Maccabees probably misunderstands the intention of the prayers and sacrifice that he records being offered. The prayers and sacrifice that were made on that occasion were probably offered for the pardon of the living, not the dead. Third, the author of 2 Maccabees does not even hint at the idea of purgatory, but claims that Judas Maccabees sought forgiveness for the dead so that they would share in the resurrection on the last day. Judas' belief in the resurrection is what the author especially commends.

But prayers for the dead naturally developed along with the belief in purgatory, prompting various traditions and practices. Throughout medieval Europe, there were priests who were paid to say mass for people who had died so that they would reach heaven. One tradition of Allhallowtide in Ireland and Scotland was to go door to door to collect “soul cakes” - each house would give you cakes so that you would pray for the souls of their loved ones.

Both purgatory and prayers for the dead are without biblical warrant. The Bible never teaches us to pray for the dead, nor does its doctrine support or imply such a practice. The practice is an invention of man, an expression of man-made religion.

The idea of further suffering for sin after death contradicts the doctrine of justification. When we are forgiven, both guilt and punishment is removed. We are not liable for a debt that has been canceled (Col. 2:14). We no longer need to make satisfaction for sin. Christ has satisfied divine justice by his single sacrifice, offered once for all, and he is the propitiation for our sins (Rom. 3:24-25, Heb. 9:14, 25-28, 10:10-14). While we demonstrate and follow through on our repentance by our good deeds, these are not satisfactions to God's justice. While we are sanctified through the trials of this life, this suffering is not a satisfaction for sin, but a fatherly discipline that belongs to this life, that we might run its race to the end. Those who die in the Lord are blessed and rest from their labors (Rev. 14:13). As Jesus told the believing criminal on the cross, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). When believers die, their souls are made perfect in holiness and immediately pass into glory, being blessed in Christ for his sake. There they await the resurrection from the dead on the last day.

Not only is prayer for the dead a superstitious practice, without biblical basis, but it also leads people astray from a firm confidence in Jesus Christ for their salvation, obscures the hope of glory we have through faith in him, and it leads us from the right use of prayer. Believers who have died do not need the prayers, for they have entered into glory. The wicked cannot be helped by your prayers. We, the living, are the ones in the arena. The living and the generations yet to come are in need of your prayers.

Prayers to the Dead?

We should not pray to dead saints. As the Westminster Larger Catechism puts it, 

Q. 179 Are we to pray unto God only?
A: God only being able to search the hearts, hear the requests, pardon the sins, and fulfill the desires of all; and only to be believed in, and worshiped with religious worship; prayer, which is a special part thereof, is to be made by all to him alone, and to none other.

You might think that with the biblical prohibitions against necromancy (Deut. 18:10–12), prayers to the saints in heaven would not even be considered by those who profess Christ. We should not seek help from the dead, including the saints in heaven. But the Roman church teaches that "we can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world" (Catechism of the Catholic Church). They might argue that it does not count as necromancy since the saints are not telling us anything, although many who pray to the saints will also claim that on rare occasions the saints have appeared to people and told them things.

While I do think that seeking help from the dead saints in heaven at leasts contradicts the principle of the command against necromancy, another argument against prayer to the saints is that it is without biblical warrant. Holy Scripture does not teach us to pray to the saints in heaven. Prayers ought to be offered with faith, but there is no grounds for faith in prayers to the saints. As Philip Melanchthon said, “And since prayer ought to be made from faith, how do we know that God approves this invocation? Whence do we know without the testimony of Scripture that the saints perceive the prayers of each one?”

Those who pray to the dead argue that the Bible teaches that the saints in heaven pray to God. I am willing to grant that (Rev. 6:9-10), but that still does not mean that we can or should pray to them.

They also argue that it is no different than asking your friend to pray for you. It is true that Scripture does teach us that we can and should ask other members of the church militant on earth to pray for us, even as we pray for them (Eph. 6:18-20), struggling and persevering together, as the apostle Paul asked the living saints to pray for him, while he also prayed for them. But this is not the same as asking dead saints, members of the church triumphant, to pray for us, praying for their intercession. There are differences. For example, your friend is alive and with you. Prayers to the dead treat the saints as omniscient, able to hear the words and thoughts of people throughout the earth. But the saints in heaven remain human, finite, and limited. If I began praying to my living friend, while I was alone in my room without technology connecting us, we would think that odd behavior. There is some equivocation on the word "prayer" in this argument.

In fact, prayer is a part of religious worship. In Scripture, prayer is directed to God alone. It is wrong to "spread out our hands to a foreign god" (Ps. 44:20). God is the one who hears prayer (Ps. 65:2). God describes to us the worship in which he delights by saying, "Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me" (Ps. 50:14–15).

Additionally, this practice of praying to dead saints detracts from the office of Christ, the only mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5). The Son of God became man so that he might be a merciful and compassionate high priest. He deals gently with the humble and intercedes for sinners. Jesus "is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25). Resting upon our merciful high priest, we are taught to draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16). 

So do not pray to the saints in heaven. Neither trust in their merits or rest on their achievements, but trust in our merciful Savior, Jesus Christ. Prayer to the dead is a superstitious practice that leads people astray from the way of true piety, defined in God's word. God would have us to call upon him, to come to him with confidence, relying on the meditation of Jesus our only priest and mediator. 

John Chrysostom on Reading Scripture at Home

John Chrysostom (347-407) was a noted preacher of the early church, first in Syrian Antioch and then in Constantinople. In his preaching he exposited Scripture, verse by verse, with lively and bold application. He also exhorted the people to discuss and read Scripture at home. Below is one example, taken from a sermon he gave in Antioch (the full sermon can be found here). The sermon is the third in a series of four sermons on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, but the first part of this sermon is taken up with an exhortation to study Scripture. 

"This, also, I am ever urging, and shall not cease to urge, that you give attention, not only to the words spoken, but that also, when at home in your house, you exercise yourselves constantly in reading the Divine Scriptures. This, also, I have never ceased to press upon those who come to me privately. Let not any one say to me that these exhortations are vain and irrelevant, for 'I am constantly busy in the courts,' (suppose him to say;) 'I am discharging public duties; I am engaged in some art or handiwork; I have a wife; I am bringing up my children; I have to manage a household; I am full of worldly business; it is not for me to read the Scriptures, but for those who have bid adieu to the world, for those who dwell on the summit of the hills; those who constantly lead a secluded life.' What dost thou say, O man? Is it not for thee to attend to the Scriptures, because thou art involved in numerous cares? It is thy duty even more than theirs, for they do not so much need the aid to be derived from the Holy Scriptures as they do who are engaged in much business. ... They rest far from the strife, and, therefore, escape many wounds; but you stand perpetually in the array of battle, and constantly are liable to be wounded: on this account, you have more need of the healing remedies. For, suppose, a wife provokes, a son causes grief, a slave excites to anger, an enemy plots against us, a friend is envious, a neighbour is insolent, a fellow-soldier causes us to stumble----or often, perhaps, a judge threatens us, poverty pains us, or loss of property causes us trouble, or prosperity puffs us up, or misfortune overthrows us;----there are surrounding us on all sides many causes and occasions of anger, many of anxiety, many of dejection or grief, many of vanity or pride; from all quarters, weapons are pointed at us. Therefore it is that there is need continually of the whole armour of the Scriptures. ...

“Many other such things there are that beset our soul; and we have need of the divine remedies that we may heal wounds inflicted, and ward off those which, though not inflicted, would else be received in time to come----thus quenching afar off the darts of Satan, and shielding ourselves by the constant reading of the Divine Scriptures. …

“‘But what,’ say they, ‘if we do not understand the things we read?’ Even if you do not understand the contents, your sanctification in a high degree results from it. However, it is impossible that all these things should alike be misunderstood; for it was for this reason that the grace of the Holy Spirit ordained that tax-gatherers, and fishermen, and tent-makers, and shepherds, and goatherds, and uninstructed and illiterate men, should compose these books, that no untaught man should be able to make this pretext; in order that the things delivered should be easily comprehended by all----in order that the handicraftsman, the domestic, the widow, yea, the most unlearned of all men, should profit and be benefited by the reading. For it is not for vain-glory, as men of the world, but for the salvation of the hearers, that they composed these writings, who, from the beginning, were endued with the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Pentecost (Part 3): Abiding Effects

This is the final part of a three-part series on the day of Pentecost. The previous installments can be found here: part 1 and part 2. In this post, I would like to speak to the abiding effects of Pentecost. While what took place on that day was unique, it was the beginning of a new era that continues today. The Spirit came to stay. He continues to be poured out. 

In this new covenant era, the baptism of the Holy Spirit takes place at conversion. All believers have been baptized in the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 12:13, Paul tells the church, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” In Titus 3:5-6, he says we are saved by the renewal of the Holy Spirit, “whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ.” 

This baptism with the Spirit occurs once and it is our initiation into salvation under the new covenant. The baptism of John looked to this as a future reality, but Christian baptism symbolizes this as present reality for Christians. The water is a sign and seal of the pouring out of the Spirit, of the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Spirit. This is why it administered once, and to every member of the visible church, at the beginning of their Christian life, and is of use to you for the rest of your life.

It helps to distinguish between the baptism of the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Spirit. Every baptism of the Spirit is a filling with the Spirit, but not every filling with the Spirit is a new baptism. 

To be filled with the Spirit can refer to that initial baptism (Acts 2:4), as well as the continuing work of the Spirit in the believer (Eph. 5:18). A person who has been filled with the Spirit is filled with the Spirit and can be further filled with the Spirit as the Spirit works within him. For example, the Christians who pray in Acts 4 were already filled with the Spirit, but in response to their prayer it is said that “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” with the result that they continued to speak the word of God with boldness, just as they had asked. The Spirit works through the means of grace, like prayer, to further strengthen the saints.

It is helpful to remember that “filling” is a metaphor. The Spirit is not literally a fluid to be poured. This is a metaphor for the activity of the Spirit in a person’s heart, a metaphor for his empowering, comforting, enlivening, and sanctifying influence. In Ephesians 5:18, Paul commands the saints to be filled with the Spirit. As Richard Gaffin puts it,  “As an imperative reality in the lives of believers, being filled with the Spirit is to be (1) controlling, (2) continual, and (3) comprehensive.” It is controlling. Note the contrast and comparison between being filled with the Spirit and being being drunk with wine, both in Ephesians 5:18 and in Acts 2: “filled with new wine” or “filled with the Spirit.” The Spirit is a different kind of controlling influence (one that produces virtues like self-control). It is also continual. The tense of the verb describes something continual or repeated, not merely a one time event. And it is comprehensive. It is manifested in worship, in all of life, and in social relations (Eph. 5:5:19-21).

A similar term, used twice in the New Testament, is that of being “led by the Spirit.” This phrase is often misused by Christians today. When you look at the context of this phrase in Scripture, you will see that being “led by the Spirit” does not refer to following your instincts and impulses. That is how many use the phrase today. But it refers, in context, to practicing Christian virtue and putting to death sinful ways and desires by the power of the Spirit (Rom. 8:13-14, Gal. 5:16-26). Hopefully these virtues become more and more instinctual, but your instincts can also be foolish and sinful. You can “feel led” by many things, and not all of them good! Your impulses are not infallible. To be led by the Spirit is to be sanctified by the Spirit, to be effectually led into the ways of holiness. He works in the saints, both to will and work for God’s good pleasure. And this is not a passive thing, as both Romans and Galatians indicate. By the Spirit, you must put to death the deeds of the flesh and walk by the Spirit in the fruit of the Spirit.

The Spirit is also described as the "guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it" (Eph. 1:14), the first fruits of glory. By the Spirit, we receive a sense of God's love, peace of conscience, joy, and the hope of glory (Rom. 5:1-5, Gal. 4:6).

The Spirit equips the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:7). The Spirit empowered the apostles as witnesses to Christ, as is seen on the day of Pentecost in the preaching of Peter. The Spirit does not give the same gifts to every individual, but works in each one for the good of the body. Nor does he give all the same gifts to people today as he gave during the days of the apostles - some gifts were particularly for that foundational age. But the principle remains the same, that you all have one and the same Spirit in common. You are bound in the unity of the Spirit, which you are told to maintain in the bond of peace. You are given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good of the body. You have been blessed to be a blessing to the rest of the body.

Conclusion

The Spirit has been poured out by Christ and is given to all flesh. Therefore, receive Christ, that you might be blessed in the Spirit. Call upon the name of the Lord. All who do so shall be saved. 

If you are in Christ, then be filled with the Spirit. Be led by the Spirit, walking by the Spirit. Attend to the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Sing and pray to God in the Spirit and for the Spirit. Put to death sinful ways and desires, and walk by the Spirit in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

Maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Be a good member of the body. Keep yourselves holy, as members of the temple of God. Do not defile or destroy the temple.

Go forth boldly and confidently in service to your Lord by the power of the Spirit, as a light to the nations. Jesus Christ has ascended on high and has poured out the Spirit as he promised. Give thanks to him. Unto him be the glory, with the Father and the Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

Pentecost (Part 2): Tongues

In the first part on this series on Pentecost, I looked at how the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost was a unique transitional event that inaugurated a new era. In this second part, I would like to take a closer look at the signs that accompanied the outpouring of the Spirit, especially the gift of tongues. 

Pentecost was accompanied by several unique signs. There was a sound like a mighty rushing wind. It came from heaven. It came suddenly. It filled the house where they were meeting. There were also divided tongues as of fire. These tongues of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they spoke in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Here are ten observations on speaking in tongues. 

1. The gift of tongues was the ability to speak foreign languages previously unknown to the speaker. The word “tongues” can refer to the body part or to languages spoken by it. 
2. This gift is described in Acts and 1 Corinthians. In Acts, it is mentioned with the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) and as this outpouring came upon the Gentiles (Acts 10) and the disciples of John (Acts 19). 
3. The content of what was said in tongues was the praise of God inspired by the Spirit (2:4, 11). They spoke as the Spirit gave them utterance. The words were given by God and they told of God's mighty works. The gift of tongues was the gift of prophecy in another language. 
4. This gift was given to the whole church on Pentecost, but after the initial outpouring, it was given as a gift to some members for the benefit of the church and a sign to unbelievers (1 Cor. 12, 14).
5. The languages were foreign languages, not the “free vocalization” passed off as tongues speaking today. Early Pentecostals believed that they were speaking foreign languages, until it became evident that they weren’t. Then they claimed they were speaking the tongues of angels. But the only biblical reference to the tongues of angels is where Paul is speaking in an exaggerated and hypothetical way (1 Cor. 13:1). It is clear from Acts that the "tongues" were the native languages of these people who had traveled from many nations. The situation was different in Corinth, which was not an international gathering like Pentecost. In a local church, what was said in tongues had to be interpreted to be understood. The interpretation of a language not previously known was also given by the Spirit to some (1 Cor. 12:10). 
6. This miracle was a sign of the Spirit like the sound and fire (Acts 2:2-4). Its importance did not lie in its practical usefulness, but in its function as a sign. It was a sign that demonstrated that the Spirit was being poured out, and was being poured out for all the nations. 
7. The significance of speaking in many languages was that the new covenant church would include all nations. This was a joy to believing Jews, but it was a judgment against those who rejected the gospel. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul explains the significance of the tongues by quoting Isaiah 28:11-12, “In the Law it is written, ‘By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.’ Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers…” 
8. There is no more gift of tongues today. Why? Since it marked that period of transition and what it symbolized has been fulfilled. The church was established by the apostles among the nations, so that the church does speak the languages of the nations. This is how Augustine put it in the early 5th century: “Isn’t the Holy Spirit being given nowadays, then, brothers and sisters? … It certainly is given nowadays. So why is nobody speaking with the tongues of all nations, as people spoke who were filled with the Holy Spirit at that time? Why? Because what that signified has been fulfilled.”
9. At Babel, the languages of the nations were divided to disperse them. But right after that, we read of the promise to Abraham for the blessing of the nations. At Pentecost, what God did at Babel is not exactly reversed - the diversity of the nations remains, with the existence of different languages. But now God is praised in all the languages. Rather than coming together in rebellion against God, they come together in Christ to praise him (Rev. 7:9-10). They worship God in one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
10. Another reason the gift of tongues has ceased is that the revelation of the gospel given through the apostles and prophets has been delivered to the church and is recorded in Scripture (Eph. 2:19-21, 3:5, Heb. 1:1-2, 2:1-4). Their work was accomplished, and so no additional revelation is given. Since revelation is complete, and speaking in tongues was a form of revelation from God, therefore speaking in tongues has ceased. 

Pentecost (Part 1): A New Era

This summer I have been preaching through the Acts of the Apostles. One of these sermons (here) was on Acts 2:1-21 and the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. I plan to adapt the sermon for this blog, posting it in three parts: (1) a new era, (2) tongues, (3) abiding effects. 

The outpouring of the Spirit was an event that had been prophesied in Joel 2:28-32, which Peter quoted on that day. It was the last days - the prophesied outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh had come. This was indicated by the sound of wind, the appearance of fire, and the church prophesying in tongues at this event. The signs in heaven had taken place at Christ’s death. The signs on earth took place at Pentecost. The last verse of the quotation points to the application: "And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."  

Other prophets had spoken of this too. Isaiah had prophesied that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon the messianic Servant of the Lord (11:1-2, 41:1, 61:1), and that the Spirit would be poured out upon his people to revive them and make them like a fruitful field (32:15, 44:3). Ezekiel had foretold how God would sprinkle clean water to cleanse his people and put his Spirit within his people to write his laws on their hearts, restoring his people and building a new temple.

John the Baptist and Jesus had also foretold it. This event was the baptism with the Spirit that they spoke of (Luke 3, Acts 1:4-5, 8). As God told John the Baptist, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit” (John 1:33). Jesus was anointed by the Spirit for his messianic task, and when he did his work and sat down at the Father’s right hand, he poured out that same Spirit as a blessing upon his the church. The Spirit was poured out by Christ from heaven, as a consequence of his exaltation and ascension, as Peter goes on to explain in his sermon.

This outpouring of the Spirit inaugurated a new era. The outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost was a pivotal event in redemptive history, like Christ’s resurrection and ascension. It was an unrepeatable event resulting in a new state of affairs. The covenant of grace was now administered in a new and more powerful way by the risen Christ. The Spirit had been poured out upon the church, and he had come to stay.

1. Pentecost established the new covenant administration.

This event was like the making of the old covenant at Sinai. As the old covenant was made with God’s people at Sinai, so the new covenant was made with God’s people at Pentecost. Both were foundational events. These covenants have the same substance, the same moral law, the same way of salvation. The new covenant is a new administration, with new ordinances and new organization befitting the greater clarity of the gospel and the greater outpouring of the Spirit. By comparison, the new covenant is a ministry of the Spirit (1 Cor. 3).

Jesus had already been setting up the new covenant during his earthly ministry. The gospel, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper were all set in place before Christ ascended into heaven. So how does the outpouring of the Spirit fit into this? Think of it like the filling of the tabernacle in Exodus 40. First Moses delivered the covenant to Israel and the tabernacle was set up. Then God manifested his presence among his people in accordance with his covenant by filling the tabernacle. Exodus 40:34, “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”

Likewise, Christ had proclaimed the new covenant and had instituted its ordinances, but now he sent the Spirit in accordance with it, making it effectual. Having chosen his apostles, he now gave them power to be his witnesses. Having organized his church, he now filled it with the Spirit as the new temple of God. The church is the tabernacle, the temple of the living God.

2. At Pentecost, the Spirit was given to the church in a new way.

The Spirit had already been active among the saints in the Old Testament (Ps. 51, 143, Is. 63). The Spirit had already been active among the disciples (Matt. 16). But at Pentecost, the Spirit was with greater fullness and to all flesh.

The Spirit was "poured out." This indicates a greater abundance, a greater fullness, a more powerful operation of the Spirit. Previously, the church received a trickle, a foretaste, but now the Spirit would be poured out like a mighty river from heaven by the risen Christ.

And this greater fullness was given to "all flesh." This new blessing was not something extra for only some of the people, but it was for those high and low, male and female, rich and poor, young and old. The whole church received it on that day, and going forward, this baptism of the Spirit would be received by all believers (1 Cor. 12:13).

"All flesh" also refers to both Jews and Gentiles. While the Spirit had previously worked among mostly Israelites, and a remnant of them at that, now the Spirit would be given to all nations. The list of nationalities represented on that occasion receives attention in the text (2:9-11). In the old covenant, the Spirit worked to save a remnant of Israelites, that the seed would be preserved, culminating in the promised Christ. At Pentecost, the Spirit was poured out so that this seed would sprout, grow, and bear fruit to the end of the earth. While the Spirit worked to save and sanctify and empower in both eras, now he was given with a new goal, a new focus, a new project. Being poured out by the Christ who had purchased redemption and obtained a kingdom, the Spirit would establish Christ’s kingdom throughout the earth. This work of the Spirit is both more extensive in the earth and also more pervasive and powerful, as Christ gathers and sanctifies his bride, the church.

In the New Testament, the Spirit is given to the church as the downpayment of its inheritance (Eph. 1:14). That is, the church has come of age and has entered into its inheritance. The church existed in the Old Testament, but it was like a child under age, managed by guardians, that is, the ceremonies of the old covenant (Gal. 3-4). But when the Son of God came in the fullness of time, he purchased redemption and sent the Spirit, giving his people the freedom and inheritance of sons. It is no longer under the guardianship of the ceremonial law. It has greater maturity and is under simpler ordinances. It can go about its Father’s business, the mission of bringing salvation to the world.

3. Pentecost was thus a unique, transitional event.

At Pentecost, the disciples entered into the full blessings of the new covenant. It is true that they were already believers, but this does not mean that believers today should expect the baptism of the Spirit as a “second blessing” at a later point after their conversion. These disciples were unique in that they straddled the change from old and new covenant administrations. Now that the Spirit has come, believers enter directly into the new covenant, receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit at conversion.

There are a few subsequent extensions of Pentecost recorded by Acts. These are cases of the same new covenant experience being extended to Samaritans (Acts 8), the uncircumcised Gentiles (Acts 10), and the disciples of John (19). The gift of tongues is mentioned with the last two. While both Jews and proselytes were present at Pentecost, proselytes differed from God-fearers like Cornelius. Proselytes had been circumcised and partook of the feasts. But in Cornelius’ house, this same blessing would come upon the uncircumcised. 

Thus, these subsequent events in Acts were part of this unique transition as it rippled out from Jerusalem to Samaria and to the Gentiles (and to the disciples of John who had not yet made the transition to the new era), matching the outline of Acts 1:8. In this way, these groups were incorporated into the new covenant and the one body of Christ. In each case, Pentecost comes through the apostles to a new category of people. This was part of their foundational work, establishing the church of Jesus Christ. Together, these events remain one foundational event, the beginning of a new administration. 

How Did God Create Man?

The tenth question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, "How did God create man?"
 It answers, "God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, with dominion over the creatures."

The doctrine of man is a major area of conflict in our day. Contrary to popular belief, you do not get to create yourself and choose all your obligations. You are created by God, and while you have some chosen obligations in life, you have other obligations by virtue of how God made you. You are created and designed by God as either male or female and as one made after his own image, to reflect his knowledge, righteousness, holiness, and dominion. 

"So God created man in his own image,

 in the image of God he created him;

 male and female he created them."

 (Genesis 1:27)

How did God make man male and female? 

He formed the man's body from the dust of the ground and formed the woman's body from the man's rib. Notice, God did not at first create an androgynous person without a sex, and then divide that person into a man and a woman. No, he created first the man, and then from him the woman. Sex identity as male or female was there from the beginning and is good.

Are there more sexes than two? 

No, there are but two sexes, male and female. Rare physical anomalies may occasionally make it complicated to identify, but they do not create a third sex or nullify the link God has made between biological sex and a person's identity as male and female. A woman is an adult human female, and female denotes the sex that can bear offspring or produce eggs. That is what old and new dictionaries say and is the biblical usage too. When Adam named the woman, he did not ask her about her psychological experience and whether she felt like a woman. He named her "woman" because her body was formed from the man’s, corresponding to it.

What implications might this have for you? 

You should affirm the goodness of this distinction. Affirm it in the way you dress and act (Deut. 22:5). Treat men as men, women as women. Fulfill your particular responsibilities as men or women, using your particular gifts well (e.g. 1 Peter 3:1-7). Men marry women, and women marry men. Sin seeks to blur the distinctions God has appointed, and the more it holds sway, the more it distorts human desires, destroying natural orientations (Rom. 1:26-27) and natural affections (Rom. 1:30-31). In our day, this sinful distortion is an ideology being promoted in our society. The creation order (natural law) is contrary to androgyny, egalitarianism, queerness, homosexuality, transgenderism, effeminacy, irresponsibility, and the hatred of either sex. Both men and women should be valued and honored as such.

What was made after God’s own image? 

God created man in his own image. "Man" here refers to mankind, male and female. And it refers to man, not merely some part of him

What does an image do? 

An image resembles something and it represents that thing. As the image of God, man represents God and resembles God. Genesis 5:1-3 connects the ideas of image and son. The son resembles his father and represents his father. Especially in an ancient household, the son would represent his father and would bear his authority under him. Likewise, Adam was created as a son of God (Luke 3:38), to resemble God and to rule God’s earthly household on his behalf (cp. Acts 17:28). The doctrine of the image of God shows us what we are and what we are called to do. If you learn that a rock is a statue, you know what it is and what it is supposed to do. It is a statue that represents someone and it is suppose to resemble that person.

How does man represent God? 

Man is God’s representative on earth, his vice-regent. Just as a king might set up statues and flags and images on coins to assert his reign - the violation of which is taken personally - so God has set up man as a symbol of his royal authority on earth. To mistreat man is to attack God (Gen. 9:6, Prov. 14:31). Man’s basic value does not come from his abilities, his usefulness, his race, his independence, or his mental capacity, but on his or her identity as a human, made in the image of God. From conception, each child is made in the image of God. 

How does man resemble God? 

Particularly, we resemble him in knowledge, righteousness, holiness, and dominion. This resemblance is connected to the first point - we resemble him to display his glory on earth.

Does man’s body resemble God? 

The divine nature is spiritual and invisible (1 Tim. 1:17, John 4:24), so no, the resemblance is not physical. Nevertheless, man was made to physically manifest God's invisible attributes. Our bodies are intended to be instruments of righteousness and dominion. Our bodies do not physically resemble God, but our resemblance to God does express itself through the body. The whole man is the image of God.

How does man resemble God in his dominion? 

Man was made as a productive being who at least originally exercised true and good dominion (Gen. 1:26-28, 2:15). God had worked to create the world with power, wisdom, and goodness, forming and filling the earth. He also created mankind to have dominion over his creation and work the earth, to exercise power, wisdom, and goodness. We are sub-creators who reflect God in our work, working on his behalf.

How does man resemble God in his knowledge? 

Man was made as a rational being with true knowledge (Col. 3:10). Think also of how knowledge and wisdom is discussed in Proverbs 8, as active in God’s work of creation and as something which man is to take hold of and exercise. Man was created with the knowledge of God and was taught right away about God’s covenant and creation. Man is able to know God and communicate with him. He can communicate with one another, and reason about and investigate this world.

How does man resemble God in his righteousness? 

Man was made as a moral being with true righteousness (Eph. 4:24). True righteousness is conformity to the moral perfection of God. Unlike the pagan gods who expressed human vices on a supernatural scale, the true God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. He is faithful and just. His children ought to be as well. His moral law is not an arbitrary expression of his whims, but a definition of what it looks like for man to reflect his righteous character.

How does man resemble God in his holiness? 

Man was made as a religious being with true holiness (Eph. 4:24). True holiness is total consecration to God and separation from the defilement of sin. You shall be holy, for the Lord your God is holy (Lev. 19, 1 Peter 1). God is set apart, undefiled, and pure - completely good. He is “inclined to all moral purity and recoils from all impurity of sin.” Mankind reflects God’s holiness by being totally consecrated to God, conforming its will to love and reject what he loves and rejects, demonstrating its devotion to him in worship and service.

What has sin done to God’s image? 

Sin distorts and defaces the image of God. If you learn that a rock is a statue, you know what it is and what it is supposed to do. If it gets defaced, it is still a statue, but it does not fulfill its purpose well, and it is in need of restoration. Humanity should still be respected as God’s image, but man has marred the image and acts contrary to it. He remains a rational, moral, religious, and productive being, capable by God's common grace of some earthly good, but his thinking is blind to God and ultimately futile, his righteousness is as filthy rags before God, his religion is idolatrous, and his dominion is ultimately vain and often cruel.

How might God’s image be renewed and restored? 

Only by God's grace. Thanks be to God that he has sent Jesus Christ to redeem his people, to break the power of sin over them, and to write God's law on their hearts by his Spirit. When we come to Christ, we "put off the old self and its practices" and "put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator" (Col. 3:10). The resemblance to God is being restored in believers, who are transformed by the renewing of their minds, enabled and taught to put to death their former sinful practices and to put on the ways of Christ.

“For as when a figure painted on wood has been soiled by dirt from outside, it is necessary for him whose figure it is to come again, so that the image can be renewed on the same material - because of his portrait even the material on which it is painted is not cast aside, but the portrait is reinscribed on it.” 

- Athanasius, On the Incarnation

Magic vs. True Religion

Magic has long been a rival to true religion. While deception could play a role in magic, I am not talking about mere sleight of hand “magic tricks.” And while some people today use magic to refer to anything supernatural or mysterious or amazing, magic in the Bible refers to something more precise, also called sorcery. It can be described as the work of using or trying to use supernatural power apart from the true God, or the attempt to control spiritual powers by formulas and rituals rather than honoring God’s word and seeking his help by prayer. The BDAG Greek lexicon defines the word mageia as “a rite or rites ordinarily using incantations designed to influence/control transcendent powers, magic.”

Whatever power the demons might give it, magic is still weak in comparison with the power of God. 

• Joseph succeeded through the true God where the magicians of Egypt had failed (Genesis 41). 
• Moses rivaled and overcame the magicians of Egypt - they were able to do some things at first, but in the end, the magicians recognized they were outmatched and told Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 7-8). 
• Israel was prohibited from practicing sorcery, divination, or necromancy in the same chapter it was commanded to listen to the prophets (Deuteronomy 18). 
• Isaiah rebuked those who turned to mediums and necromancers rather than to God, saying, “to the teaching and to the testimony!” (Isaiah 8). 
• Daniel succeeded through the Most High where the magicians of Babylon had failed (Daniel 2, 4). 
• Three times in the book of Acts, Jesus and the gospel triumphed over those who practiced magic (Simon Magus in Acts 8, Elymas the magician in Acts 13, and the converted practicers of magic who burned their magic books in Acts 19). 

People have long sought supernatural power through the evil practice of magic and sorcery rather than through submission to the true and living God, but those who trust in the Lord have not been put to shame. Salvation and security is not found through magical arts, but is a gift given, received through faith in Jesus Christ. God is not a force to be manipulated, but a personal being to be listened to, believed, supplicated, and gratefully revered.

"Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and perform your vows to the Most High,
and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
(Psalm 50:14–15)

Attributes of God

The fourth question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, "What is God?" It answers, "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth." 

God has revealed himself to man, so that we are not in the dark about his existence or nature. Our knowledge of him, when based upon his revelation of himself, is limited but true. He has revealed himself in his creation (Rom. 1:19-20) and in the Holy Scriptures.

What does it mean that God is a Spirit?
God reveals that he is a Spirit (John 4:24). This means that the divine nature is not physical. God as God has no body. As our confession of faith says, he is "a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions." When Jesus rose from the dead, he contrasted spirit with body: "Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have" (Luke 24:39). Jesus only had a body because he took on human nature. 

What about references to God’s hand, God’s arm, God’s eyes, God’s face?
These are figures of speech that use human body parts to refer to God’s invisible attributes (e.g. his power, knowledge, favor, etc.). He sees, he hears, he acts, he speaks, but without physical eyes, ears, hands, or mouth. He does not need the organs for these activities.

What does it mean for God to be infinite?
He is without limit. He is not bound or measured. He is everywhere, filling heaven and earth, and even they cannot contain him (Jer. 23:24, 1 Kings 8:27).

What does it mean for God to be eternal?
He is not limited by time, but is beyond time. He existed before time began. He has no beginning and no end. "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You return man to dust and say, 'Return, O children of man!' For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night" (Psalm 90:2–4).

What does it mean for God to be unchangeable?
He is perfect and therefore cannot grow better or get worse. He is infinite and eternal, not a creature of time. He does not vary or change (James 1:17). “They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end. The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you” (Psalm 102:26-28).

How is God’s being different from our being?
It is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, and these attributes apply to his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. That is, his being is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. His wisdom is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. His power is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. And so forth.

What is God’s wisdom?
It is his perfect knowledge of himself and all things by which he orders and connects all things with purpose and design and ultimately for his glory. His wisdom is displayed in the design and order of the creation and his providence (Psalm 104), in his law (Deut. 4:6), and in his work of salvation through Jesus Christ, the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1-2).

What is God’s power?
It is his ability to do whatever he pleases (Ps. 135:6-7). He has supreme authority over all things and he has infinite power. He works all things according to the counsel of his will (Eph. 1:10; note the union of wisdom and power). His power is displayed in creating all things out of nothing by his word (Rev. 4:11), by sustaining all things by his word (Heb. 1), by working all things to fulfill his purposes (Dan. 4:35), and by overcoming sin and Satan through the miraculous incarnation and work of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:24).

What is God’s holiness?
Holiness has to do with separation, consecration, and purity. Thomas Vincent describes it this way: “The holiness of God is his essential property, whereby he is infinitely pure; loves and delights in his own purity, and in all the resemblances of it which any of his creatures have; and is perfectly free from all impurity, and hates it where he sees it.” Consider Isaiah 6:3, Revelation 4:8, and 1 Peter 1:15-16.

What is God’s justice?
God is perfectly just and right in himself and in his dealing with others, rendering to everyone his due. He is just in the laws he gives, in his actions toward his creatures, and in his judgments as the Judge of the earth. As Abraham said, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Gen. 18:25). He will by no means clear the guilty (Ex. 34:7). As Deuteronomy 32:4 says, “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.” He displays his justice in the sacrifice of Christ to satisfy divine justice, in his temporal judgments in history, and in the final judgment on the last day. His justice is a good thing, for which creation longs (Ps. 96, 98), and to which we appeal as those in Christ (1 John 1:9, Gen. 18:25, Luke 18:1-8).

What is God’s goodness?
It is that whereby he is goodness himself, is generous and kind, and is the author of all good. Consider how man was made. Before man did anything, God supplied him with a world of good things, full of beauty, usefulness, and delight, and gave him dominion over it. Even now, God is generous to all and patient toward the rebellious. “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). His kindness is meant to lead men to repentance. His goodness is especially shown in his work of love and grace in the salvation of sinners through Christ. By grace, he brings us back to an enjoyment of himself, the true good, and the right use of all his good gifts. To the redeemed, the creation is their Father’s world. Truly, as Psalm 145:8–9 says, “The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.”

What is God’s truth?
God is faithful and true and speaks the truth, not falsehood. “…in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began…” (Titus 1:2).  The devil is a liar and the father of lies who deceived Eve. But God cannot be mistaken and he cannot be unfaithful. He is faithful, so that what he says is true and what he has said he will do he will perform - he is true to his word. He abounds in steadfast love and faithfulness (Ex. 34:6).

God is not limited by time or space. Neither is God foolish, weak, common, unjust, miserly, or fickle. Our experience can at times provoke us to feel that God is weak, unjust, miserly, etc. But we must hold fast to his word and believe that God is who he says he is in the midst of trials. Remember what he has done for you. Remember what you have received from him. Remember what he has done for his people in the past. Remember what he has done in your life, taking pity on you when you were doomed to death. 

Presbyterians and the American War of Independence

Last Sunday, I preached on how God makes his people a blessing to their land. You can listen to that sermon at this link. "By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown" (Proverbs 11:11). One historical example of this can be found in the work of Christians in the struggles of our own country during its war for independence. Consider the contributions made by our fellow Presbyterians at that time. 

In 1768, John Witherspoon accepted an invitation to become the president of the College of New Jersey. He was a Presbyterian pastor from Scotland who had become notable as a leader of the evangelical party in the Church of Scotland against the moderates. At the College of New Jersey (later renamed Princeton University), he taught 500 students, including 

a president of the United States (James Madison), a vice president (Aaron Burr Jr.), twelve members of the Continental Congress, five delegates to the Constitutional Convention, forty-nine US representatives, twenty-eight senators, and three Supreme Court justices. Added to this impressive list were 114 ministers of the gospel, 19 of whom became presidents of institutions of higher learning. (Reformed and Evangelical across Four Centuries: The Presbyterian Story in America) 

Around the same time, British policy toward their colonies began to change. The British Parliament began claiming authority to tax and regulate the internal affairs of the colonies, an authority which the colonies argued was illegitimate and which belonged to their own representative legislatures. Parliament only had authority to regulate external trade for the advantage of the mother country, not to raise revenue. They rightly saw this imposition a usurpation and one that undermined their rights as British freemen and the security of their hard-won property.

Another threat was that the British Parliament might attempt to impose a bishop on the colonies aligned with the power of the state, a tyranny from which the colonists had escaped by coming to America. Congregationalists and Presbyterians were united in their concern for religious liberty and were concerned with good reason that the suppression of civil liberty might lead to the suppression of religious liberty. Historically, they knew how kings had used bishops to gain greater control over the church and feared that such a bishop might be empowered with authority over dissenters. In 1766, the Presbyterian Church (the Synod of New York and Philadelphia) and the Consociated Churches of Connecticut formed an association with a regular convention for better communication between them and for a united stand for the gospel and religious liberty and against the imposition of a bishop.

The Presbyterian synod rejoiced with the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766 and reminded its people to give thanks to God for delivering them both from the French and Indians and from the Stamp Act and to respond with renewed obedience to God, rather than risk his judgment by ingratitude. In all the coming trials of the war, pastors would remind the people to look beyond the British to the hand of Providence and to humble themselves before the Lord in prayer and repentance.

As war approached, Presbyterian pastors were careful to be pastors not politicians. Preaching on politics directly was more the exception than the rule, and was done most often on special days of fasting or thanksgiving. But centuries of Reformed teaching on the magistrate and proper ways of resistance had a strong influence on the colonies, and pastors did not ignore the events of their time. They approved the struggle for American rights and liberties and gave pastoral exhortations for how to pursue this course in a godly way. 

The Synod sent out a pastoral letter of 1775 drafted by John Witherspoon to this effect. In it, they advised those under their charge to express their attachment and respect to their Sovereign (but misled) King George; to seek only the preservation of those rights which belonged to them as freemen and Britons and to desire reconciliation on those terms; to honor, pray for, and observe the resolutions of the Continental Congress; to maintain church government over the morals of members; to each fulfill his debts and duties to his neighbors amid disorder and disruptions; to preserve a spirit of humanity, only fighting as necessary; and to continue steadfastly in prayer. The letter was signed on May 12, 1775 and it was read from the pulpit in the churches on a national fast day, July, 20, 1775, a year before independence was declared. John Adams sent a copy of this letter to his wife and was very pleased with it and with the Presbyterian preaching he attended in Philadelphia from Rev. George Duffield, a future chaplain to the Continental Congress. You can read the pastoral letter here.

On May 17th, 1776, a day of prayer and fasting declared by Congress, John Witherspoon preached “The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men.” In this sermon he preached on God’s providence and a right use of it and the importance of virtue. In it, he declared his opinion “that the cause in which America is now in arms, is the cause of justice, of liberty, and of human nature.” He concluded his sermon by saying, 

Upon the whole, I beseech you to make a wise improvement of the present threatening aspect of public affairs, and to remember that your duty to God, to your country, to your families, and to yourselves, is the same. True religion is nothing else but an inward temper and outward conduct suited to your state and circumstances in providence at any time. And as peace with God and conformity to him, adds to the sweetness of created comforts while we possess them, so in times of difficulty and trial, it is in the man of piety and inward principle that we may expect to find the uncorrupted patriot, the useful citizen, and the invincible soldier. — God grant that in America true religion and civil liberty may be inseparable, and that the unjust attempts to destroy the one, may in the issue tend to the support and establishment of both.

Only two months later, the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776. Witherspoon was one of its signers, along with 11 Presbyterian laymen. Speaking of him, a member of Parliament said, “Cousin America has run off with a Presbyterian parson.” 

One of those other Presbyterian signers was Thomas McKean. He was a Scots-Irish Presbyterian, born in Pennsylvania to parents born in Ireland, and educated by Rev. Francis Alison (an Old-Side Presbyterian minister) and at the University of Pennsylvania. He represented Delaware in the Stamp Act Congress and in the Continental Congress (1774-1782). He voted for and signed the Declaration of Independence, served as a colonel in the war, helped draft the Articles of Confederation and voted for them. He served in the Delaware House of Assembly and drafted Delaware's 1776 Constitution.  He was the chief justice of Pennsylvania from 1777 to 1799, a member of Pennsylvania’s convention who voted to ratify the US Constitution, and the governor of Pennsylvania from 1800 to 1808. Even at the age of 80, he was active during the War of 1812 in leading a Philadelphia citizens group to prepare for a potential British invasion. 

In fact, due to the strong support Presbyterians gave to the patriot cause, the war became known among many of the British as a Presbyterian war, especially since the Congregationalists were so closely united with the Presbyterians as to be grouped together with them. In fact, some Tories believed the war was caused by a Presbyterian-Congregationalist conspiracy to set up a Presbyterian establishment in the colonies - a rumor that Presbyterians would go out of their way to disprove. One loyalist Anglican minister, Rev. William Jones, wrote in 1776 to the British government that “…this has been a Presbyterian war from the beginning as certainly as that in 1641…” (referring to the British Civil War). 

While Presbyterians of various ethnic background largely sided with the patriots, the Scots-Irish were especially numerous and prominent. They sided with the patriots quite earnestly, except for a few areas where local disputes divided them. They were some of the most loyal troops that stuck by Washington at Valley Forge. Their Presbyterian ancestors had opposed tyranny under the authority of lower magistrates and legislatures in the British Civil War and the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and now they did it again. One Hessian captain wrote to a friend, saying, “call this war, dearest friend, by whatsoever name you may, only call it not an American Revolution, it is nothing more nor less than an Irish-Scotch Presbyterian Rebellion” (Capt. Johann Heinrichs, January 18, 1778). This also meant that Presbyterians and their ministers and churches were often targeted by the British Army. For example, Rev. James Caldwell was a chaplain in the Continental Army and his wife was killed by the British, his house and church was burned by Tories, and his death was probably an assassination.

As the war shifted to the south, the Scots-Irish Presbyterians of the backcountry would provide important victories at King’s Mountain and Cowpens. At King’s Mountain, these Scots-Irish frontiersmen had been encouraged by the preaching of Presbyterian preacher Samuel Doak and were led by five colonels who were also Presbyterian elders. General Daniel Morgan who defeated Tarleton at Cowpens came to faith during the war and joined the Presbyterian church shortly after the battle. 

Not only did they fight, but Presbyterians also emphasized the importance of rightly responding to trials and humbling themselves before God in prayer and repentance. Both Congress and the Synod repeatedly set days to call people to repentance, prayer, thanksgiving, and new obedience throughout the war. Presbyterians looked to God to deliver and use this new country for good, but they also realized the need for national repentance and reformation if this was to happen, and preached for it. In 1779 and 1780, the Presbyterian church called for a day of prayer and fasting in this way: 

The Synod taking into consideration the great and increasing decay of vital piety, the degeneracy of manners, want of public spirit, and prevalence of vice and immorality that obtains throughout our land, and that the righteous God, by continuing still to afflict us with the sore calamity of a cruel and barbarous war, is loudly calling the inhabitants to repentance and reformation, and as a means thereto, to deep humiliation, frequent and fervent prayer, do therefore appoint Thursday, the 17th day of August next, to be observed by all under our care, as a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer; and do also renew the recommendation of former Synods to all their congregations, to spend a part of the last Thursday in every month, in social prayer, as their circumstances may admit.

The Presbyterian church also responded to victory with calls for thanksgiving. In 1783, the Synod of New York and Philadelphia sent out another pastoral letter to its churches, writing, 

We cannot help congratulating you on the general and almost universal attachment of the Presbyterian body, to the cause of liberty and the rights of mankind. This has been visible in their conduct, and has been confessed by the complaints and resentment of the common enemy. Such a circumstance ought not only to afford us satisfaction on the review, as bringing credit to the body in general, but to increase our gratitude to God for the happy issue of the war. Had it been unsuccessful, we must have drunk deeply of the cup of suffering. Our burnt and wasted churches, and our plundered dwellings, in such places as fell under the power of our adversaries, are but an earnest of what we must have suffered, had they finally prevailed.

The synod, therefore, request you to render thanks to Almighty God, for all his mercies spiritual and temporal; and in a particular manner for establishing the independence of the United States of America. He is the supreme disposer, and to Him belong the glory, the victory, and the majesty.

Presbyterian Statements on Women and the Draft

Since it is in the news again that the US Senate Committee on Armed Forces is proposing (once again) to start requiring women to register for the draft in the 2025 NDAA (see here), I thought I would share a few statements from Presbyterian denominations in NAPARC on women and the draft/military. This is not comprehensive, as other denominations have made similar statements. My local church also has its own statement on this in its constitution. Hopefully this provision is taken out of the final bill, and perhaps these statements might be worth including in a letter to your senator or representative. I believe the requirement for women to register for the draft to be both unwise and immoral on account of the distinction between the sexes revealed in creation and in the Bible. In the Bible, men alone are assigned the responsibility for national defense (Neh. 4:14, Num. 1:2-3, Deut. 24:5), and this was not something pertaining to ancient Israel alone, but a moral principle based in the creation order (Gen. 1:27, Is. 19:16, Jer. 51:30). 

Orthodox Presbyterian Church, 68th General Assembly, 2001:

“The 68th GA declares that the use of women in military combat is both contrary to nature and inconsistent with the Word of God.”

Presbyterian Church in America, 30th General Assembly, 2002:

"1. Acknowledging that the child in the womb is 'a person covered by Divine protection' (Statement on Abortion, Sixth General Assembly); and that women of childbearing age often carry unborn children while remaining unaware of their child's existence; and that principles of just war require the minimization of the loss of life-particularly innocent civilians; the PCA declares that any policy which intentionally places in harms way as military combatants women who are, or might be, carrying a child in their womb, is a violation of God's Moral Law. Adopted

"2. This Assembly declares it to be the biblical duty of man to defend woman and therefore condemns the use of women as military combatants, as well as any conscription of women into the Armed Services of the United States. Adopted

"3. Therefore be it resolved that the Thirtieth General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America adopts the above as pastoral counsel for the good of the members, the officers, and especially the military chaplains of the Presbyterian Church in America. Adopted

"4. Be it further resolved that the Presbyterian Church in America supports the decision of any of its members to object to, as a matter of conscience, the conscription of women or the use of women as military combatants. Adopted"

Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, 168th Synod, 1998:

“Therefore, be it now resolved: That, while recognizing the right and duty that women have to self-defense, which may involve physical violence (Judges 9:53), it is our conviction that Biblical teaching does not give warrant to employ women for military combat.”

Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, General Synod, 2016, Index 20:

“The Word of God gives no warrant expressed or implied that women are to be conscripted into military service or required to participate in military combat. Therefore, the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church opposes the registration of women for Selective Service and the assignment of women to combat duty or to duties which involve a significant risk of engaging in combat.”

Many of these quotes are also found in Paul Barth's post on the topic: Women in the Military and in Combat. The PCA and OPC's statements can be found along with the committee reports that preceded their adoption here (PCA) and here (OPC), although I would note it is the statements rather than the reports that were adopted by the general assemblies. You can also find my earlier post about the 7th century "Law of Adamnan" on this topic here.

The 21st Century: American Presbyterian Churches Today

Mt.  Zion A.R. Presbyterian Church

“Presbyterians have been an important part of American life and culture for a very long time. With roots planted deep in the English and Scottish Reformations, growing numbers of Presbyterian families began to settle throughout the American colonies during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, bringing with them a deep respect for the Bible, a yearning for spiritual renewal and spread of the gospel, a theological seriousness, and a desire for a society transformed by Christian principles.” 

(Reformed & Evangelical across Four Centuries: The Presbyterian Story in America, 2022)

In my final lesson on American Presbyterian history, I summarized this history in three parts:

1700s - Foundations. This period saw the church organized (Makemie, first presbytery in 1706, first general assembly in 1789), confessional subscription established (adopting act, Hemphill case), the work of evangelism and church planting (the Great Awakening), and contributions to the American founding (Witherspoon, pastoral guidance, and patriotic application by members).

1800s - Maturation. This period saw expansion, especially westward (plan of union, revivals, home missions), the work of education (seminary, theologians, children), defense of orthodoxy (old vs. new school, evolution, inerrancy), internal debates (worship, sacraments, status of children, polity, slavery, church-state relations), foreign missions, and contributions and applications to society (the vision of a Christian nation).

1900s - Realignment. This period comes in three parts: the fundamentalist-modernist controversy (1910-1936), conflict in the mainline churches (1960s-1970s), and realignments in the aftermath (1980s-present). This period saw the rise of liberalism and neo-orthodoxy, the rise of fundamentalism and evangelicalism, a resurgence of interest in Reformed theology and confessional Presbyterianism, and the progressive decline (numerically and spiritually) of the mainline church.

The Present

Formerly, the mainline churches (including the PCUSA) acted as an informally established church in American society. The decline of the mainline churches, including the PCUSA, numerically and spiritually, has had disastrous consequences for the USA, leaving it without a Christian religious center. Roman Catholics and evangelicals have attempted to fill in the gap, with mixed results. The witness of the church in America is divided. Nearly every major tradition has a liberal and conservative branch(es).

With the decline of the PCUSA, will the other Presbyterian denominations become a new mainline? Confessional churches have their work cut out for themselves: rebuilding what was lost as well as continuing the work of the church.

Presbyterians have also shrunk as a proportion of the American population and of the American Christian population since the colonial period. Presbyterians have often punched above their weight with an influence beyond their numbers, but it is worth noting that we are a minority even among Bible-believing Protestants in America. 

Yet besides these challenges, there are reasons for hope as well. Following the realignments of the 20th century, churches like the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and Presbyterian Church in America have a self-consciously confessional identity. We are in a better place than we were in the early or middle 20th century, when most confessional Presbyterians were either in organizations compromised with unbelief or new organizations that were poor and starting from scratch. Now that we have realigned on the basis of biblical authority and confessional faithfulness, and in the case of the OPC have nearly a century of work to build upon, we are better set up to go forward with the mission of the church. Each church in NAPARC has its own respective gifts and strengths. In recent decades there has also been an increased interest in Reformed theology and a more historically-rooted and doctrinally-rich manifestation of the church, while liberal Christianity and lesser errors like classic Dispensationalism no longer have the power they once had.

The Task Ahead of Us

Here is a goal: that the whole visible church be organized on a confessional Presbyterian basis and that everyone in America (and the world) comes to Christ and his church. Even this would not be an end goal, but the start of discipleship. A more immediate goal for us would be to contribute, as a branch of the visible church, to the discipleship of the nations, and especially this people, the American people, through the conversion of the lost and the perfecting of the saints in Christ.

The church faces its task in America today while its own ranks are in disorder. We have a twofold task, the reform of the church and the fulfillment of its mission. We must rebuild the progress that was lost with the falling away of the mainline (and other major departures from the faith). We must gain lost ground, planting or reforming churches and reaching abandoned communities. We must also press forward with the gospel and the Great Commission, with the church’s ministries of word, sacrament, prayer, and with the faithfulness of each member in this fellowship and in each one’s calling in the world.

We should think of both individuals and communities, both population and geography. Each church is an outpost in the advance of Christ’s kingdom, and we want every person in the country to have access. We want a healthy gospel church in every community in the USA (to adapt a slogan from the Free Church of Scotland). We want a confessional Reformed church in every community in the USA. And we want to build up and maintain a healthy church here that will continue to send missionaries abroad, missionaries that will export a sound gospel and establish healthy churches. 

The work ahead of us includes:

• Replace (or reform) liberal churches, a new work in the aftermath of the previous century. 

• Gather the scattered flock (de-churched Christians), a task as old as the colonial era. 

• Evangelize the lost.

• Disciple, shepherd, edify, equip, and catechize the saints, including our children.

• Keep the faith and God’s ordinances pure and entire, keeping watch over ourselves. 

• Work with and for other faithful churches and Christians, contributing to the edification of the larger body of Christ and seeking greater reform and agreement.

In this work, we should not be sectarian on the one hand nor embarrassed about our distinctives on the other hand, but building up the body of Christ in the fullness of the faith and the whole counsel of God. The Presbyterian church is well set up for this, receiving as members of our church the members of the visible church - those who profess the true religion and their children - while requiring confessional subscription of its officers. Baptism is the beginning of a process of discipleship, not the end. It is important to be “catholic” (not in the Roman sense) and serious about discipleship and catechizing. This depth should include both doctrinal depth and a breadth of application, teaching Christians a biblical worldview that they might serve the Lord in every area of life. This is all the more important today as we live amid modern secularism. 

Let us press onward with the mission to the American people and church, while not going astray ourselves. May we keep the faith, keep our kids, and keep advancing, in breadth and depth, following Christ the King.

Presbyterian Reunions and Divisions of the 20th Century

Elsberry A.R. Presbyterian Church, est. 1911

In my last post, I described the history of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, which was formed by those who left the northern mainline church, the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, in 1936 due to the PCUSA's actions against those who opposed liberalism in the church. I also mentioned that in 1937, the Bible Presbyterian Church departed from the OPC. The Bible Presbyterians held to Premillennialism, abstinence from alcohol, and support for the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions. The rest of the 20th century saw multiple reunions and divisions among American Presbyterians. This account is adapted from a lesson I gave in my lesson series on American Presbyterian history, available here.

Developments in the North in the 1950s and 1960s

The Bible Presbyterian Church divided into two groups in 1956. They came to be named the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and the Bible Presbyterian Church.

In 1965, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church united with the Reformed Presbyterian Church, General Synod (a “New Light” Covenanter denomination), forming the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod (RPCES).

The PCUSA and the United Presbyterian Church of North America (UPCNA) united in 1958, forming the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA). The UPCNA had been formed in the 1800s from several northern denominations in the Reformed Presbyterian (“Covenanter”) and Associate Reformed (“Seceder”) traditions. The Covenanter and Seceder traditions originated from groups that left the Church of Scotland in 1662-1689 and 1733, respectively, before coming to America. Two other denominations, the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (in the north) and Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (in the south), remain independent representatives of those traditions.

In 1967, the UPCUSA produced the Confession of 1967 (strongly influenced by the “neo-orthodox” theology of Karl Barth), a “Book of Confessions,” and revised ordination vows that redefined and basically eliminated confessional subscription and a commitment to biblical authority, although the full implications of the change would become evident later.

Developments in the South, 1930s-1970s

The Presbyterian Church in the United States (the southern Presbyterian church) resisted liberalism longer than its northern counterpart, but controversy began to heat up in the late 1930s, when major confessional revision was narrowly avoided and attempts to discipline several high profile liberals failed. Liberals had organized a secretive organization to advance their cause in the PCUS (“The Fellowship of St. James,” later replaced by “The Fellowship of Concern”).

Confessional members in the PCUS formed four organizations that would prove important for the later formation of the Presbyterian Church in America: (1) The (Southern) Presbyterian Journal, est. 1942, edited by L. Nelson Bell 1942-1959 and by G. Aiken Taylor 1959-1987; (2) The Presbyterian Evangelical Fellowship, est. 1958 by Bill Hill, (3) Concerned Presbyterians, est. 1964 by Kenneth Keys as an organization for ruling elders, and (4) Presbyterian Churchman United, est. 1969 by John Richards as an organization for ministers.

Reunion with the northern mainline church was defeated in 1954, but looked likely by 1970. Delegates from the four organizations formed the Conservative Caucus in 1970. A steering committee was formed to organize a withdrawal in 1971. The first general assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America met on December 4, 1973. At its founding, the PCA had 260 church with 41,000 communicant members. Initially it was called the National Presbyterian Church, but when the church by that name in Washington DC challenged them in court, they changed the name to the Presbyterian Church in America.

In their "Message to all Churches of Jesus Christ throughout the World," the PCA said, 

We declare, therefore, that the Bible is the very Word of God, so inspired in the whole and in all its parts, as in the original auto-graphs, to be the inerrant Word of God. It is, therefore, the only infallible and all-sufficient rule of faith and practice. … Deviations in doctrine and practice from historic Presbyterian positions as evident in the Presbyterian Church in the United States, result from accepting other sources of authority, and from making them coordinate or superior to the divine Word. A diluted theology, a gospel tending towards humanism, an unbiblical view of marriage and divorce, the ordination of women, financing of abortion on socio-economic grounds, and numerous other non-Biblical positions are all traceable to a different view of Scripture from that we hold and that which was held by the Southern Presbyterian forefathers.

More Departures from the Mainline

Meanwhile, the northern mainline church was going more liberal. In 1975, the judicial commission of the UPCUSA overturned the ordination of Walter Kenyon, who had informed his presbytery that he would not participate in the installation of women ministers. This prompted some churches and ministers to leave and join the PCA, including R.C. Sproul (both he and his friend Kenyon had been students of John Gerstner, a confessional professor at the UPCUSA seminary in Pittsburgh). In 1979, the UPCUSA’s general assembly ruled that all congregations must elect both men and women to the office of ruling elder. About 40 churches departed, including Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, which joined the RPCES.

In 1981, the UPCUSA’s general assembly upheld the reception from the United Church of Christ of a minister, Mansfield Kaseman, who refused to affirm the deity of Christ, his sinless nature, and the bodily resurrection. The ordination vows were interpreted in the decision as no longer binding officers to a confessional system of doctrine, but to a general willingness to be guided by the confessions. This decision, on top of other concerns, prompted more churches to leave, including those that founded the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

The Evangelical Presbyterian Church was formed in 1981 by churches that left the mainline churches, both the UPCUSA and the PCUS. It is a confessional Presbyterian denomination, although it allows for churches to decide whether to have women elders and deacons and for its presbyteries to decide whether to have women ministers. It also allows for different views on the gifts of the Spirit within certain parameters. It rejects the practice of abortion and homosexuality.

North and South Unite

The RPCES joined the PCA in 1982 by the Joining and Receiving Act. With the RPCES came Covenant Seminary, Covenant College, and Francis Schaeffer. (Initially the OPC was going to be a part of this, but the PCA presbyteries did not approve its reception.) By receiving churches from the mainline denominations in the 70s and 80s, receiving the RPCES in 82, and its own church planting efforts, the PCA grew rapidly and spread throughout the USA.

The mainline denominations, the UPCUSA and the PCUS, united in 1983, forming the Presbyterian Church (United States of America). At the time, the PC(USA) had 3.2 million members. Evangelicals in it had obtained the guarantee that Southern churches could have eight years after the reunion to leave with their properties to another Reformed body, a provision which a number of churches used during those years, many of which joined the PCA. The PC(USA) has only continued to grow more liberal in this century, especially on sexual ethics. As churches left it, the EPC doubled in size from 2007 to 2012. The PC(USA) has declined to an aging membership today of 1.1 million.

In 2012, another denomination was founded by churches leaving the PC(USA), called ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians. Their departure was prompted by the PC(USA)’s decision to ordain practicing homosexuals. The formation of a new denomination, rather than joining an existing one, was prompted by ECO’s egalitarian commitment to women’s ordination. ECO’s loose practice of confessional subscription is guided by its “Essential Tenets” and it did exclude the Confession of 1967 and the PC(USA)’s 1991 Brief Statement of Faith from its Book of Confessions. Meanwhile, the PC(USA) is considering at this year’s general assembly whether to require the affirmation of homosexuality and transgenderism of its officers.

——————

American Presbyterian Denominations, by Membership

Members of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council marked with an asterisk. These statistics are taken mostly from 2021, so growing churches like the OPC and PCA have more today, while shrinking churches the PCUSA have less. This does not include denominations from Dutch or German Reformed traditions.

Presbyterian Church (United States of America) - 1,245,354 members, 8,813 churches
Presbyterian Church in America* - 386,345 members, 1,932 churches
Evangelical Presbyterian Church - 145,000 members, 627 churches
ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians - 127,500 members, 391 churches
Korean American Presbyterian Church* - 80,000 members, 650 churches
Cumberland Presbyterian Church - 70,810 members, 685 churches
Korean Presbyterian Church Abroad - 55,000 members, 302 churches
Orthodox Presbyterian Church* - 31,112 members, 328 churches
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church* - 29,317 members, 264 churches
Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America - 15,142 members, 113 churches
Korean Presbyterian Church in America (Kosin)* - 10,300 members, 135 churches
Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America* - 7,076 members, 100 churches
Bible Presbyterian Church* - 3,500 members, 29 churches
Vanguard Presbytery - 26 churches
Free Presbyterian Church in North America - 22 churches
The Reformed Presbyterian Church, Hanover Presbytery - 17 churches
The Covenant Presbyterian Church - 12 churches
The Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly - 11 churches
Free Church of Scotland (in North America) - 9 churches
Presbyterian Reformed Church* - 7 churches
Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) (in North America) - 6 churches

A History of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church

“I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” (Revelation 3:8)

I thought this verse was appropriate to accompany a history of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and not only because it is in the letter to the church in Philadelphia. Even though the OPC began as a small group who had lost their buildings and resources when they left the mainline church, it has worked diligently to keep the faith, maintaining its profession of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And slowly but surely, the Lord has sustained and blessed the OPC over the years. 

You can listen to my recorded lessons on the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy and the History of the OPC. To accompany these lessons, here is a timeline of OPC history. (You can find the reports to the OPC General Assembly here and the minutes of the OPC General Assembly here.)

1910 - The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America (PCUSA) affirmed the “five fundamentals” - biblical inerrancy, the virgin birth, penal substitutionary atonement, Christ’s bodily resurrection, and Christ’s miracles - as among the essential and necessary articles of faith. This was also reaffirmed in 1916 and 1923. 

1921 - J. Gresham Machen becomes known for his role in the defeat of the proposal to form a federal union of 18 denominations known as the United Churches of Christ in America on a meager creedal basis. B.B. Warfield, of Princeton Seminary, also died the same year.

1922 - Harry Emerson Fosdick preaches, "Shall the Fundamentalists Win?" He argued that the Fundamentalists were illiberal and intolerant, trying to kick out those who were seeking to adapt the faith to the “new knowledge” that had been discovered in the modern age.

1923 - J. Gresham Machen's book Christianity and Liberalism was published, in which he argued that “The great redemptive religion which has always been known as Christianity is battling against a totally diverse type of religious belief … called ‘modernism’ or ‘liberalism.’”

1924 - In reaction to the previous year’s reaffirmation of the five fundamentals, a group of PCUSA ministers signed the Auburn Affirmation, denying inherency and protesting the use of these “theories” as tests of orthodoxy. 150 ministers signed it by January, and 1,273 ministers had signed it by its reprinting in May. 

1927 - The General Assembly rescinded the five-point deliverance of 1910, 1916, and 1923 on the grounds that the assembly had overstepped its authority. It also determined to reorganize Princeton Seminary.

1929 - The PCUSA reorganized Princeton Seminary, and four of its professors, including J. Gresham Machen, and four of its alumni moved over to found Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia. 

1932 - The release of Re-Thinking Missions: A Laymen's Inquiry After One Hundred Years, which promoted a more liberal approach to foreign missions. 

1933 - After the General Assembly failed to act to reform its foreign missions board, Machen helped to establish the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, “to carry on truly Biblical and truly Presbyterian Foreign Missionary work.”

1934 - McAllister Griffiths, Murray Thompson, and Gordon Clark attempted to defrock signers of the Auburn Affirmation in the Presbytery of Philadelphia, but the charges were dropped by the presbytery. The General Assembly also directed its presbyteries to discipline all those who refused to resign from the Independent Board.

June 1, 1936 - The General Assembly upheld the censures against those who remained on the Independent Board, 7 suspensions from the ministry (including Machen) and 1 admonition. Carl McIntire was the only one who also suspended from the communion of the church, and Wheaton College President Oliver Buswell was the one who was admonished. 

June 11, 1936 - Those who were suspended, and other ministers, elders, and lay members who supported them, gathered in Philadelphia to found a new denomination. Its original name was the Presbyterian Church of America, and its first General Assembly was held with 44 ministers and 17 ruling elders. The suspensions were lifted. One of its founding lay members was Thomas Hodge, grandson of Charles Hodge. Thomas Hodge came to the next General Assembly as a ruling elder.

November 12, 1936 - The second General Assembly was held, with over 100 ministers enrolled; 64 ministers and 23 elders were present. The same month, Machen lost reelection as president of the Independent Board for Presbyterians Foreign Missions.

January 1, 1937 - J. Gresham Machen died from pneumonia during a trip to encourage the churches in North Dakota.  

1937 - The third General Assembly distanced itself from the Independent Board (due to its shift away from being distinctly Presbyterian) and declined to commend abstinence from alcohol and "questionable amusements," reaffirming instead the position of the Westminster standards on Christian library and the sins of drunkenness and lascivious entertainment. Therefore some led by McIntire and Buswell left and formed the Bible Presbyterian Church, which also proceeded to amend its confession of faith to affirm Premillennialism.

1938 - The new church had 4,225 communicant members in 60 congregations with 99 ministers.

1939 - After the PCUSA brought a lawsuit in 1936 and won it against the PCA in the Common Pleas Court in 1938, the PCA renamed itself the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. The lawsuit had claimed the name of the new church was too similar to the PCUSA. 

1942 - Report to the General Assembly on Freemasonry (“Masonry is a religious institution and as such is definitely anti-Christian”).

1942 - The Christian World Order Conference held by Westminster Seminary.

1944-1948 - The controversy over the ordination and teachings of Gordon Clark. 

1945 - The OPC had 7,412 members (5574 communicants) in 73 congregations, around 100 ministers.

1946-1947 - Report on song in worship, setting forth the regulative principle of worship, debating exclusive psalmody, and setting a framework for the production of a new hymnal.

1948 - A committee was established to begin revising the Book of Church Order, beginning with the Form of Government. A revision of the Form of Government was finished in 1957.

1961 - The OPC published The Trinity Hymnal.

1961 - Report to the General Assembly on the teachings and practice of the Peniel Bible Conference, which declared Peniel’s doctrine of the guidance of the Holy Spirit to be erroneous.

1970 - The OPC had 14,300 members, 190 ministers, 116 churches.

1972 - In response to the previous year’s report on abortion and to an overture from the Presbytery of New Jersey, the General Assembly adopted a statement on abortion. It began by stating: “Believing that unborn children are living creatures in the image of God, given by God as a blessing to their parents, we therefore affirm that voluntary abortion, except possibly to save the physical life of the mother, is in violation of the Sixth Commandment.”

1974 - Report to the General Assembly on meeting the problems of race.

1974 - Anna Strikwerda became the first martyr of the OPC, when a OPC-operated hospital in Eritrea was raided and its people taken hostage (she was killed as they were marched away).

1975 - Greg Bahnsen, having been raised in the OPC, was ordained as an OPC minister.

1975 - The first meeting of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC), founded “to facilitate cross-denominational conversation and co-operation,” including representatives from the OPC, CRCNA, PCA, RPCNA, and RPCES. Later the CRCNA would be removed and others added, like the URCNA, RCUS, and ARPC (12 total).

1975 - The OPC and Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod sought to merge, but the RPCES voted it down, due in part to the influence of Francis Schaeffer in the RPCES.

1978 - Report to the General Assembly on the Baptism and Gifts of the Holy Spirit, affirming the cessation of tongues and prophecy. This report was prompted by an 1976 appeal of a minister, Arnold Kress, who had asserted that they may continue in the church today. Kress moved on to the CRC in 1978.

1979 - Another revision of the Form of Government was completed.

1979 - The Presbyterian Guardian (est. in 1935 by Machen) merged with the Presbyterian Journal, which had been established by Southern Presbyterians. In 1987, the Presbyterian Journal was succeeded by World magazine.

1980 - New Horizons in the OPC is founded as a denominational magazine.

1981 - The PCA, RPCES, and OPC were going to merge by the Joining and Receiving Act, but the presbyteries of the PCA declined to join and receive the OPC, leaving them out of the merger (the RPCES did join the PCA). This was in part because of concern in the PCA with the teachings of Norman Shepherd at Westminster Seminary on justification, faith, and works. Shepherd was dismissed by Westminster’s Board of Trustees by the end of the year.

1983 - The revised Book of Discipline was adopted.

1986 - The PCA extended an invitation for the OPC to join them, but the measure failed to get a 2/3 majority in the OPC General Assembly.

1987 - Report to the General Assembly on Paedocommunion, in response to a mission to Ethiopian immigrants in Washington D.C. that had initially been permitted to practice paedocommunion while the presbytery overtured the General Assembly. Its presbytery later rescinded its permission.

1988 - Report to the General Assembly on women in office. This was prompted by an overture that Bethel OPC in Wheaton, IL had sent its presbytery in 1979. The church had been promoting and moving toward greater inclusion of women in church leadership and the leading of worship, but Elder Brinks brought a complaint against the church that was upheld by the Presbytery of the Midwest and the General Assembly. In 1989, most of Bethel’s church, including its pastor and most of its session left to start another church, leaving behind 44 of 300 members. Doug Clawson and Lendall Smith helped bring healing and stability to the church. This situation also prompted a report on unordained persons in worship in 1991.

1989-1990 - Two of the very few years in which the OPC has declined in total membership. This was due to some churches and members joining the PCA after the denominations failed to merge. 

1990 - A revised edition of The Trinity Hymnal was released through the collaboration of the OPC and PCA.

1993 - The General Assembly petitioned President Clinton to stand against the sin of homosexual activity and to not lift the ban on homosexuals in the military.

1995 - The OPC had 21,131 members, 355 ministers, and 189 churches.

2001 - Report to the General Assembly on women in combat. The General Assembly responded by declaring “that the use of women in military combat is both contrary to nature and inconsistent with the Word of God.”

2003 - The trials of Lee Irons and John Kinnaird. Irons was a disciple of Meredith Kline. Irons had been found guilty by his presbytery for denying that the 10 Commandments have binding authority over Christians as the standard for holy living. Kinnaird was a ruling elder associated with Norman Shepherd. Kinnaird had been found guilty by his session for allegedly teaching justification by faith and works (his point regarded the necessity of holiness for glorification). The General Assembly heard both on appeal. It denied the appeal of Irons, so that his presbytery moved to suspend him from the ministry. The General Assembly upheld the appeal of Kinnaird, reversing his conviction.

2004 - Report to the General Assembly on the views of creation days.

2006 - Report to the General Assembly on the doctrine of justification. This was prompted by the Federal Vision controversy and the desire to vindicate the denomination from accusations resulting from its acquittal of Kinnaird. The report contended that aberrant views on justification had been promulgated from within the "Federal Vision" and the "New Perspective on Paul" movements. 

2011 - The revised Directory for Public Worship, including a new membership vow explicitly affirming the doctrine of the Trinity, was adopted. You can find it with the rest of the Book of Church Order here.

2023 - The OPC has 32,720 members (24,073 communicants), 584 ministers, 301 churches, and 31 mission works.