The History of Presbyterianismin the United States

Part 6: ModernismE – Ecumenism & Neo-Orthodoxy

Master TimelineUnited States Europe

• 1620 – Mayflower lands• 1730s-1743 – 1st Great Awakening• 1776-1783 – American Rev.• 1790-1840 – 2nd Great Awakening• 1830 – Book of Mormon• 1850-1900 – 3rd Great Awakening• 1861-1865 – American Civil War• 1870 – Scottish Common Sense• 1889 – Moody Bible Institute• 1891 – Briggs’ address• 1909 – Scofield Reference Bible• 1910 – Pres. G.A.: 5 Fundamentals• 1914-1919 – World War I• 1922 – “Shall Fund.s Win?”• 1923 – The Auburn Affirmation• 1925 – The Scopes Trial• 1929 – Westminster Theo.

Seminary• 1936 – Orthodox Presbyterian Ch.• 1936 – John Mackay, Princeton

Sem.

• 1643 – Westminster Confession of Faith• 1650-1800 – Age of European

Enlightenment& of Scottish Common Sense

Philosophy• 1770s-1900 – Rise of German Higher

Criticism• 1789-1799 – French Revolution• 1827 – Plymouth Brethren begin meeting• 1833 – Slavery Abolition Act of England• 1859 - Charles Darwin – Origin of Species• 1862-77 – Darby travels to the United

StatesUnited States (cont.)

1937 – Death of J. Gresham Machen - Bible Presbyterian Ch. (McIntyre)1966 – RTS, Jackson, MI1967 – Confession of ‘67, Book of Confessions1973 – PCA1983 – Union of UPCUSA & PCUS

Strategic Theological Compromises Within Conservative Presbyterianism

•Adopting Act of 1729•Scottish Common Sense Realism•Neo-Orthodoxy

Karl Barth, 1886-1968Swiss Reformed Theologian

“Neo-orthodoxy” was a faith that looked both ways: it was rooted in the Protestant Reformation and yet relevant to a modern age. It affirmed the authority of the Bible, but also the findings of biblical higher criticism, and thus rejected the doctrine of biblical inerrancy. The creeds of the church, as well, were valuable statements of faith, though time-bound and historically conditioned.

H&M

Neo-Orthodoxy –A Theology of Compromise

• Stresses the subjective experience of the individual and regards propositional truth as either irrelevant or indeterminate.

• Existential truth transforms the individual in his concrete here and now. Propositional truth, on the other hand, may increase one's information but leaves man essentially unchanged.

• The Bible is said to contain within it an inspired witness, but it is a mistake to directly identify Scripture as the Word of God;

• Jesus, the person, is the Word of God. The Bible can become the Word of God only when God chooses to use it to reveal himself.

• Therefore, the actual text and words of Scripture are not identified as the Word of God. Rather, it is an instrument to communicate and witness to the true Word, Jesus.

• Neo-Orthodoxy accepts higher criticism of the Scriptures but believes exegesis must move beyond mere historical inquiries.

theopedia.com

John Mackay,President, Princeton Sem.1936-1959

Mackay sought to go beyond the fundamentalist-liberal impasse by hiring several neo-orthodox faculty, including Elmer G. Homrighausen and Emil Brunner.

“[At the heart of Presbyterianism is a] great-heartedness [that recognizes] it is a right and duty of a living church to restate and interpret its faith as occasion may require.” H&M

Neo-Orthodoxy

A new solidarity emerged after 1936. Presbyterians met the demands of their time by following “the example of that great neo-Calvinist, Karl Barth. … Although Barth may have chastised the zeal of liberalism in the Presbyterian Church, he was no obstacle for its progressive impulse.”

H&M

Cornelius Van TilProf. of Apologetics,Westminster SeminaryPhiladephia, PA

Van Til was relentless in insistingthat Barth was no ‘neo-Calvinist’ but

represented aradical break from Calvin and the Reformedtradition.

Cornelius Van TilProf. of Apologetics, WTS, Phil.

“If the late J. Gresham Machen spoke of the necessity of making a choice between liberalism and Christianity, we should be doing scant justice to his memory if we did less today with respect to the new Modernism and Christianity.”

H&M

New Appointments to Princeton

The resurrection of Christ does not belong to history

but to eternity.

E.G. Homrighausen

“[T]he pronouncements of Dr. Homrighausen are … hopelessly confusing. His trumpet gives forth an uncertain sound. … his Barthianism … is absolutely destructive of the notion of an infallible Bible.”

C. Van Til

“The FlourishingFifties”

“The postwar baby boom and the growth of suburban life ushered American culture and its mainline churches into a period of unprecedented growth and prosperity. Presbyterian Church buildings and membership increased at a pace that exceeded population growth in the United States. Sunday school attendance and benevolence giving rose to their highest levels in denominational history.”

H&R

Pres. Dwight D.

Eisenhower

• Joined the PCUSA in 1953 upon his election to the presidency.• Added “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance• Started the annual Day of Prayer and the Presidential Prayer Breakfast• Entertained visits from Billy Graham and others.

Americans in the Eisenhower years displayed “a very fervent faith in a very vague religion.” (Martin Marty)

H&R

The Ecumenist AgendaContinues Through the 20th century

“To be ecumenical is as Presbyterian as predestination.”

(R.M. Brown)Evangelical Alliance =>

Federal Council of Churches, 1908 =>National Council of Churches, 1950

& the World Council of Churches, 1948

United Nations is founded, 1945

The Ecumenist AgendaContinues Through the 20th century

Several attempts to unifythe Presbyterian churches were made.

1958 – A merger between the PCUSAand the United Presbyterian Church,

North America

United Nations is founded, 1945

“The UPCNA was a conservative church that was expanding beyond its parochial Covenanter past, evidenced by its membership in the National and World Council of Churches.”

H&R

The Feminist AgendaContinues Throughthe 20th century

It is my vision that the day soon willcome when we will not be debatingordination of women, nor rejectingthe use of inclusive language...

1922 – Ordination of women as deacons1930 – Ordination of women as elders

1956 – Ordination of women as ministers

1970 – G.A. approval of abortionon demand

Margaret Towner

1949 Commencement,Princeton Seminary

“Any Presbyterian church that doesnot … ally itself with every othertruly Christian church … is not aPresbyterian church. It has become aPresbyterian sect. … There is no future for

asectarian church, … no future – period!”

Eugene C. Blake

The Confessionof 1967

• Neo-orthodoxy was given confessional standing.▫affirmed God’s transcendence over creation,▫affirmed humanity’s fall into sin,▫affirmed the call to faith as a response to God’s

grace in Jesus Christ.• The Bible is the word of God, subordinate to the

Word of God incarnate.• Presbyterians are instructed to read the Bible

historically and not literally (rejecting inerrancy).

The Book of Confessions

•The UPCUSA subscribed to a multiple confessional base, incorporating many historic creeds.

•The Neo-orthodox Barmen Declaration and Confession of 1967 were included and are the “last word”.

•The Westminster Larger Catechism was dropped as being legalistic.

Ministerial Ordination Vow

From: “Do you sincerely receive and adopt the Confession of Faith and Catechisms of this Church as containing the system of doctrine taught in Holy Scripture?”

To: Do you sincerely receive and adopt the essential tenets of the Reformed faith as expressed in the confession of our church as authentic and reliable expositions of what Scripture leads us to believe and do, and will you be instructed and let by those confessions as you lead the people of God?

“Mainline Presbyterians createda creedal museum

and put the Westminster Standardsunder glass.”

Dr. Ed Clowney, President, Westminster Seminary

Dr. Cornelius Van TilWestminster Seminary

“Neo-orthodoxy proved to be more triumphant in the Presbyterian church than liberalism. The triumph of neo-orthodoxy was the broadening of the

church which, in effect, did not embrace but rejected all the historic Creeds it

claimed to affirm. The Book of Confessions is a collection of mutually

exclusive gospels.”

A plurality of contextual issue-oriented theological ventures has replaced doctrine: feminist theology, black theology, theologies of liberation and process.

Presbyterians began identifying themselves less by their denominational

affiliation and more by the interest group they supported.

The call to social activism transformed Presbyterians into a church of “pure doing” – from the scandalous to the

mundane. When all of life was mission and every member a minister,

Presbyterians lost their consciousness of special office and holy vocations.

Angela Davis

First Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh

the Rev. Tom Hall

New CovenantPresbyterian Church

Preaching God’s Sovereign Grace

to a World of Need128 St. Mary’s Church Rd.,

Abingdon, MD 21009410-569-0289

www.ncpres.orgwww.ephesians515.com