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Why conservatives should stay.
But who is really "traditional"? |
| Richard Mouw urges
conservatives to stay in the PC(USA). Toby
Brown questions his assertion that evangelical leader J. Gresham
Machen was truly a "traditional" Presbyterian.
[1-2-02]
In a recent "Guest
Viewpoint" for the January 7th issue of Presbyterian
Outlook, Richard Mouw, an evangelical Presbyterian and president and
professor of Christian philosophy at Fuller Seminary, Pasadena,
California. argues that evangelicals should not act hastily to leave the
denomination, both because the PC(USA) needs their voice, and because
without being in contention with more liberal Christians, they are
likely as in the past "to argue among themselves."
In making his point about the need for an evangelical witness in the
denomination as a whole, Mouw asserts that the conservatives
"constantly reminded the liberals in the denomination of what
Calvinist orthodoxy was all about, and they did so with intellectual
rigor. When they left, this kind of witness departed with them. The
evangelicals who stayed on in the Northern church generally did so
because they were not as polemical as the Machen group. This meant that
the quality of theological argumentation suffered for several decades --
some would even say up to our present time -- in mainline
Presbyterianism."
The Rev. Toby L. Brown, Interim Associate Pastor at Westminster
Presbyterian Church, Oklahoma City, takes issue with Mouw's view that
Machen was a "gifted defender of traditional Presbyterianism."
| Brown
writes:
A Closer Look: A Response to Richard J.
Mouw
From the Presbyterian Outlook, January
7, 2002 Issue
As a fellow reader of Presbyterian history and
concerned Presbyterian, I want to respond to one of the
assertions that Richard Mouw made in his recent Presbyterian
Outlook Guest Viewpoint article. He asserts that J Gresham
Machen was a "gifted defender of traditional
Presbyterianism." (italics mine) While I do not take issue
with the idea that Machen was a gifted intellectual and able
defender of a particular form of Presbyterian theology, namely
the Princeton Theology, I cannot more strongly disagree that
this particular stream of thought within our Presbyterian
heritage is the only valid form of "traditional"
Presbyterian thought. A close study of our denominational
history bears this out.
Since the beginning of our American
Presbyterian experience there has been disagreement over a wide
range of issues. Does Mouw not remember the Old Side/New Side
controversies or the Cumberland split? Does he not remember the
momentous disagreements that good Presbyterians have had on any
number of issues ranging from the Westminster Confession to
slavery? Does only one side of this history deserve to be named
"traditional Presbyterianism"?
I would challenge Mouw to look deeper into our
history to see the various streams within our tradition as
faithful debates on a number of issues. The Princeton Theology
which Machen so strongly defended until his death was but one
school of thought within the Presbyterian family. There were
other, equally "traditional" views within the
denomination. Look to the Auburn Affirmation of 1923, signed by
Presbyterians! Is it valid then to claim that one school of
thought in a diverse denomination was the one true tradition?
Certainly the "liberals" and "revivialists"
appealed equally to scripture and the Reformers.
I think that Mouw goes too far when he claims
that his favored theological tradition within the larger
Presbyterian family was the true voice of tradition and I think
that a closer look at our history refutes his assertion.
--Rev. Toby L. Brown
Interim Associate Pastor, Westminster Presbyterian Church,
Oklahoma City
December 31, 2001 |
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Some blogs worth visiting |
|
PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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