The Rev. Donald M. Boyd
THE Salvation Army is organising another Easter vigil around a cross in the centre of a pedestrian precinct in Inverness.
As this is an ecumenical age, the Free Presbyterian minister of Inverness got an invitation along with his congregation to this “public act of Christian witness”. The invitation spoke of the success of last year’s witness “as a means
of testimony for Christians of differing denominations.”
The letter goes on to say: “The witness is silent in its nature, for we only wish to present Jesus and He crucified and all that is required is for Christians to surround the cross, taking their turn in holding the cross, as the Spirit leads and directs them…. With the Christian Church fragmented by doctrinal difference I feel this silent witness gives opportunity for all who share our Saviour’s name to make a united declaration of faith without compromising our differing doctrinal beliefs. For this reason I pray earnestly you will find the Lord guiding you to come and place Christ where He would most surely want to be on the day we celebrate His crucifixion, in the market place in the midst of the people He died to save.”
The reply was as follows: “I am responding briefly to your letter inviting me to your Easter vigil in Inglis Street.
“Your letter mentions that this witness does not compromise our differing doctrinal beliefs. I am sorry that it does compromise the doctrinal beliefs of my church. You speak about people ‘holding the cross, as the Spirit leads and directs them.’ In my church we believe that holding crosses has got more to do with Roman Catholic and Orthodox doctrines than Protestant ones, so that your letter begs the question whether in holding a cross it is the Spirit and not rather one’s own spirit that does the leading and directing.
“You hope that ‘this silent witness gives opportunity for all who share our Saviour’s name to make a united declaration of faith without compromising our differing doctrinal beliefs’. ‘We cannot make a united declaration of faith’ in this way. The Saviour warns us against false forms of Christianity, so that our ‘declaration of faith’ includes this warning. Consequently we warn and witness against the ecumenical movement which minimises the importance of doctrine in the Church’s witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Many people do not understand this form of witness which our Church considers to be biblical. They assume that if we do not hold their form of witness, then we are acting contrary to the mind of Christ. If I may respectfully point out, you suggest this in your letter when you say that Christ expects His people to be with you in the market place ‘on the day we celebrate His crucifixion’ and that you are earnestly praying that we will find the Lord guiding us to come with you. May I remind you, however, that since the beginning the Christian church has ‘celebrated His crucifixion’ by the Lord’s Supper, according to Christ’s appointment and institution. This was His method of healing divisions, (1 Cor 11:2,18,22-23).
“Further, the biblical memorial of the Saviour’s resurrection is not Easter but the Lord’s Day. We seek to remember His resurrection every week, and
not as a mere annual event. Consequently, the celebration of His crucifixion cannot be a mere annual event on Good Friday.
“I hope you will come to respect our witness to the truths of Christ’s Gospel.”
John Welsh
Rev. K.D. Macleod
Continued from page 85 of the March issue.