5
May 1924 A.D. Historical Context of Auburn Affirmation
Amongst American Presbyterians
The PCA Archivist has the story.
Archivist . “May 5: Historical
Context of the Auburn Affirmation.” This Day in Presbyterian History. 5 May 2014.
http://www.thisday.pcahistory.org/2014/05/may-5-3/.
Accessed 5 May 2014.
May 5: Historical Context of the Auburn Affirmation
The document known as the Auburn Affirmation was presented to the public in
January of 1924, bearing the signatures of 150 Presbyterian pastors and elders.
But just four months later, on May 5, 1924, that list of signatures had
grown to 1274 names, a significant percentage of the pastors and ruling elders
of the Church as that point in time. How many more might have signed had it
been convenient, and how many more were complacent or apathetic about the
matter? In sum, the Auburn Affirmation attempted to reduce orthodox Christian
doctrine to mere opinion and theory. As much as all of this was a shame upon
the denomination, perhaps the greater shame was the almost entire lack of
response from theologically conservative Presbyterians. They were caught
flat-footed and unawares. Of those that did take notice, most thought that the
Auburn Affirmation was just a flash in the pan and would come to nothing.
Remarkably, substantive discussion of and opposition to the Affirmation was not
voiced until almost a decade later.
Sound doctrine had been under concerted attack since at
least the 1890′s. The situation was accelerated somewhat by the 1903 revision
of the Westminster Confession of Faith, and even more so by the 1906 inclusion
of most of the anti-Calvinistic Cumberland Presbyterian denomination. Thus by
1910, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. felt
constrained to pronounce certain doctrines “essential.”
This Doctrinal Deliverance, as it was called, was
produced by the Committee on Bills and Overtures in response to a situation
arising out of the New York Presbytery in which three candidates for the
ministry were ordained even though they refused to affirm the doctrine of the
virgin birth of Christ. [Here it is worth noting that J. Gresham Machen spent much of his career
defending this particular doctrine.] While the 1910 PCUSA General Assembly
dismissed the complaint brought against the three men, it did instruct its
Committee on Bills and Overtures to draft a statement which all future
candidates would have to affirm in order to be ordained. The Committee’s
completed Doctrinal Deliverance set out five articles of faith (reproduced
below) which were judged “essential and necessary.”
That was in 1910. Such was the state of the Church that
the General Assemblies of both 1916 and 1923 were compelled to reaffirm the
Doctrinal Deliverance of 1910. Thus it can be seen that the 1924 Auburn
Affirmation was written almost entirely in opposition to this Doctrinal
Deliverance. Sadly, by 1927 the General Assembly overturned the Deliverance
with the conclusion that the Assembly cannot mandate certain doctrines as
“essential and necessary.” In so doing, the 1927 Assembly effectively loosed
the Church from its moorings.
The Doctrinal Deliverance of 1910 [reiterated in 1916 and 1923]:
1. It is an essential doctrine of the Word of God and our
Standards, that the Holy Spirit did so inspire, guide and move the writers of
the Holy Scriptures as to keep them from error. Our Confession says [Chapter I,
Section 10]: “The Supreme Judge, by whom all controversies of religion are to
be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers,
doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose
sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the
Scriptures.
2. It is an essential doctrine of the Word of God and our
Standards, that our Lord Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary. The Shorter
Catechism states, Question 22: “Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking
to Himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of
the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without
sin.”
3. It is an essential doctrine of the Word of God and our
Standards, that Christ offered up “himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine
justice, and to reconcile us to God.” The Scripture saith Christ “once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to
death in the flesh, but quickened in the Spirit.” [Cf. the Westminster Shorter
Catechism, Q. 25]
4. It is an essential doctrine of the Word of God and our
Standards, concerning our Lord Jesus, that “on the third day he arose form the
dead, with the same body in which he suffered; with which also he ascended into
heaven, and there sitteth at the right hand of his Father, making
intercession.” [Cf. the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter VIII, Section
4]
5. It is an essential doctrine of the Word of God as the
supreme Standard of our faith, that the Lord Jesus showed his power and love by
working mighty miracles. This working was not contrary to nature, but superior
to it. “Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their
synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness
and every disease among the people” [Matthew
9:35
]. These great wonders were signs of the divine power of
our Lord, making changes in the order of nature. They were equally examples, to
his Church, of charity and good-will toward all mankind.
These
five articles of faith are essential and necessary. Others are equally so…
]. These great wonders were signs of the divine power of
our Lord, making changes in the order of nature. They were equally examples, to
his Church, of charity and good-will toward all mankind.
These
five articles of faith are essential and necessary. Others are equally so…
Resolved, That,
reaffirming the advice of the Adopting Act of 1729, all the Presbyteries within
our bounds shall always take care not to admit any candidate for the ministry
into the exercise of the sacred function, unless he declares his agreement in
opinion with all the essential and necessary articles of the Confession.
[Minutes of the General Assembly, 1910, pages 272 - 273.]
[Minutes of the General Assembly, 1910, pages 272 - 273.]
Words to Live By:
As the Rev. Bill Iverson is fond of saying, “God has no grand-children.” By that Rev. Iverson means that the work of evangelism must be done afresh in every generation. The Church can never rest from that good work. And we must constantly bear in mind that salvation belongs to the Lord. Our preaching and our witnessing must be done in complete reliance upon the Lord to bring about conviction of sin and conversion to saving faith. If the Church strays, it is because the people have strayed.
As the Rev. Bill Iverson is fond of saying, “God has no grand-children.” By that Rev. Iverson means that the work of evangelism must be done afresh in every generation. The Church can never rest from that good work. And we must constantly bear in mind that salvation belongs to the Lord. Our preaching and our witnessing must be done in complete reliance upon the Lord to bring about conviction of sin and conversion to saving faith. If the Church strays, it is because the people have strayed.
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