However, as I understand the term, Good Faith Subscription is intended to mean that we receive men into our presbyteries based on their own declaration of commitment to the Westminster Standards, indicating what, if any, differences they may hold with its teaching. Having said that, permit me to add that, in my judgment, as a descriptor for a mode of confessional subscription, the term “Good Faith Subscription” is not especially helpful, and since it nowhere appears in our Book of Church Order (BCO), I do not believe we should feel overly wedded to it.
At a denominational level, that was settled in 2002 when we adopted what’s referred to as “Good Faith Subscription.” My objective here is to help us begin to think through carefully the “why” and the “how” of meaningful, vibrant confessionalism within the PCA, within the current constraints of Good Faith Subscription. If you’ve been in the PCA for long, you will know that we have had our share of battles over the form of confessional subscription required by our officers. The problems begin to appear when we ask how we ought to use our confessional standards? In what sense ought we to adhere to them?
I rather suspect that, at least so far as the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) goes, there would be near unanimous agreement among our officers and in our courts concerning the duty of confessionalism in general. Having stated the scriptural and ecclesiastical necessity of confessions, the purpose of this second article is to reflect on the role the Standards play in our denomination.
0 kommentar(er)
