Identity Crisis in Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)?

The Rev. Mr. Wesley White is suggesting an identity crisis with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)?  Thoroughly or Broadly Reformed?  We would suggest the PCA is “broadly” Reformed and even quasi-Confessional.  They refused to affiliate with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) initially and during later discussions.  Why not? 

Exhibit A:  Professor John "Latitudinarian" Frame, RTS, Orlando.  Exhibit B:  RTS’s new “Institute of Baptist Studies” in Orlando, FL. Exhibit C:  Rev. Dr. Ligon Duncan, associate with and full-throated backer of Baptacostals.  This is for starters.  Good question by Rev. White.

The PCA is not a Confessional Church in the historic sense of that term.  Let it be acknowledged.

 http://www.weswhite.net/2012/05/thoroughly-reformed-or-broadly-reformed/ Johannes Weslianus

The PCA’s Original Vision: Thoroughly Reformed or Broadly Reformed?

Dr. Paul Kooistra and MTW’s new PCA Original Vision Network is claiming to bring us back to the PCA’s original vision. One statement that has come under scrutiny is Larry Hoop’s claim that the original vision of the PCA was to be a denomination committed to a broadly Reformed theological position, steering clear of both a formless evangelicalism with sketchy theological commitments and a narrow sectarianism that could consume our energies building a theological fortress . . .

Is this an accurate summation of the PCA’s original vision?

For those who want to research the Original Vision of the PCA, I would highly recommend a new resource made available by the PCA Historical Center. There were four organizations that were instrumental in forming the PCA. The organization for conservative pastors was called Presbyterian Churchmen United. You can read their newsletters here.

Not surprisingly, such a group was asked many questions. In order to answer them, they wrote “A Declaration of Commitment.” You can read it on page 4 of this newsletter. Note the 4th statement in particular:

That for the implementation of the above principles, in obedience to our ordination vows, we must strive to preserve a confessional Church, thoroughly Reformed and Presbyterian. Thus our support of or opposition to any proposed union will be determined by these considerations. (emphasis added)

Thus, to be more historically accurate, we could probably say that the denomination was supposed to be “thoroughly Reformed” not “broadly Reformed.” “Broadly reformed” may be an original revision rather than the original vision.

Below is the original “Declaration of Commitment” with the names of those who signed it including MTW Coordinator Paul Kooistra.

A Declaration of Commitment

To the membership of the Presbyterian Church, U.S., in the light of the questions and concerns being expressed in the Church as to the nature of our faith and order, I(we), the undersigned, do solemnly declare my(our) conviction:

-That the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ turns men from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. By coming to faith in Him alone is there genuine reconciliation between man and God and man and man.

-That the Holy Scriptures are the infallible Word of God, and that these Scriptures commit the Church to a mission whose primary end is the salvation and nurture of souls.

-That Christian faith must bear fruit if it is to remain virile. These fruits vary from believer to believer. But common to them all are evidences of love, concern, and neighborliness, towards all races of men without partiality and without prejudice, especially to the poor, the oppressed, and the disadvantaged. The man of faith views all men as neighbors and himself as debtor, for Christ’s sake.

-That for the implementation of the above principles, in obedience to our ordination vows, we must strive to preserve a confessional Church, thoroughly Reformed and Presbyterian. Thus our support of or opposition to any proposed union will be determined by these considerations.

-That being fully committed by our ordination vows to the system of doctrine set forth in the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms, we must oppose all efforts to change in substance or otherwise debase our historic doctrinal commitment.

-That we are, in the same context, by vow committed to historic Presbyterian polity with its representative system and its parity among teaching and ruling elders. Thus, we are forced to oppose the effort to take our Church into the massive organization envisioned by COCU.

-That, should the basic theology or polity of the Church be altered or diluted, we shall be prepared to take such actions as may be necessary to fulfill the obligations imposed by our ordination vows to maintain our Presbyterian faith.

Signature ___________________________________

HERE WE STAND

By January of 1973 over 600 men had signed the declaration at which point it was still circulating. Some of those signers are listed below:

O. Chauncey Acrey
James W. Allen
O. M. Anderson
Walter D. Arnold
Henry M. Bailey
James B. Billman
Taylor O. Bird
J. A. Booth
George C. Bowman
Ralph A. Brown
Paul K. Buckles
Al S. Burdette
Robert Ernest Burnett
Charles G. Burton
Robert H. Camenisch
E. H. Carleton
Robert A. Clark
John R. Clarke
Willis Cornelius
Cecil V. Dalton
Peter DeRuiter
R. M. Dickson
A. T. Dyal
Charles W. Echols, Sr.
C. G. Forthman
L. K. Foster
Paul Bucher Fowler
Taft A. Franklin
Charles R. Galbraith
James Marion Gilbert
Curtis C. Goodson
Vance A. Gordon
Donald M. Green
J. C. Grier
B. David Gullett
Thomas L. Harnesberger
James Douglas Heck
Gerald A. Heersma
James C. Hicks, Jr.
H. Keith Hill
Fred W. Hoffman
Doyle Hulse
George H. Hurst
James Herbert Hurst
Harry K. Jeanneret
A. Emerson Johnson II
Albert Sidney Johnson
William R. Johnson
Laurie Voltz Jones, Jr.
Robert O. Kantner
A. H. Key
Paul D. Kooistra
Robert Koren
Thomas M. Lemly
Thomas Dwight Linton
Samuel Lipsey
Samuel T. Logan, Jr.
Richard L. Love
John A. Luddy
Robert M. Lytton
Jacob S. MacKorell, Jr.
James O. Maner
John J. Martin
D. A. Meeks
J. M. Moore
James L. Moss
Cameron D. L. Mosser
W. F. McElroy, Sr.
James L. McGirt
Charles E. McGowan
Charles H. McLean
James W. McNutt
W. L. Newman
Louis G. Novak
Lannie Parnell
Walser Penland
Lyle W. Peterson
Wythe M. Peyton, Jr.
William S. Porter
Ira H. Rawles
E. W. Reid
D. Edward Renegar
William E. Riddle, Jr.
Ernest T. Severs
W. Hiram Sharpe
Weldon W. Shows
Stephen J. Sloop
Frank E. Smith
W. Ted Smith, Sr.
William S. Smith
Frank Edward Soules
Ernest L. Stoffel
Bert H. Styles
L. Sherwood Taylor
T. Reichardt Taylor
Calvin C. Thielman
Frederic D. Thompson, Jr.
Vincent O. Titterud
Harry Samuel Topham
Robert Lee Turner
John G. Viser
DeForest Wade
James R. Wagner
Howell Cobb Ware
T. Barton West
T. J. Wharton
A. W. Whitaker, Jr.
Roy F. Whitley
Bruce H. Wideman
Linwood G. Wilkes
Glenn M. Willard
Bill Williams
Carl W. Wilson
Maynard C. Woltz
Donald E. Wood
J. R. Woods
Charles W. Worth
Frank R. Young
Troy L. Young
Charles R. Bailey
William H. Bell, Jr.
John Richard de Witt
Charles B. Evans, III
Richard R. Harris
John D. Holmes
Robert A. Johnson
Edward J. Knox
John Wade Long, Jr.
Wallace W. Marshall
John S. McNicoll
John W. Stodghill
James E. Watson
William K. Wymond
D. A. Dunkerley
Basil P. Albert
Robert G. Balnicky
Bruce Beardsley
H. L. Broadwater, Jr.
Paul J. Coblentz
Billy G. Combs
John W. Dozier
G. A. Fleece
Iain Inglis
William W. Maynor
A. C. Summers