The Enlightenment
Some in the media have recently been showing an interest in the Enlightenment, particularly in its Scottish expression, and celebrating it as a movement which made the Western world what it is. To the ideas which it let loose they attribute the advances made in many areas of modern life – specifically philosophy, science, economics, medicine and architecture.
The Enlightenment is a term used for at least the past hundred years to describe the intellectual movements which dominated eighteenth-century Europe. The term was intended to indicate that, through these movements, humanity in the West was delivered from the darkness of a past in which people had been dependent, for their understanding of reality, upon faith in an authoritative revelation from God. The main thrust of this period was to exalt the place of human reason in determining what reality is – though some of those regarded as philosophers of the Enlightenment either differed over what human reason is, or reacted against the idea of human reason and went down such roads as scepticism or speculation. Whatever the differences, and however fundamental some of these were, common factors were the assertion of the autonomy of man and the dismissal of any knowledge – whether of natural or supernatural objects – based on the authority of divine revelation. The expectation was that man would inevitably make
progress if left to determine the nature of reality by powers of his own.
In these movements we find the modern roots of secularism and of an optimism grounded in unaided human capacity to understand and handle the total environment, which seems to survive even the most devastating set-backs. There we find the roots of unbelieving theological scholarship. There we find the roots of a loss of confidence among believers which makes them desire, not only to express the truth in a way which addresses the thinking of the day, but also to justify before the bar of human reason that which is accepted on the basis of revelation.
There is no doubt that persons driven by an unquestioning confidence in human reason and science, and by an optimistic expectation of the possibilities for the race, may be motivated thereby to make discoveries potentially beneficial to mankind. A denial of God, and a belief in the self-contained nature of the universe and in man’s capacity to master its secrets, may even move some to intellectual and scientific efforts which have useful by-products. It was in the line of ungodly Cain that men initially developed cattle-keeping skills, learned to handle the harp and organ and became artificers in brass and iron (Genesis 3).
What is often forgotten or denied is that in Scotland the Church had long provided, in its religious services and educational schemes, a stimulus to thought and enquiry, even on what some would regard as the most abstract matters. The use of reason was always encouraged in Calvinistic circles, but it was recognised that the existence of reason – and of an ordered universe of reality which could be investigated and whose laws could be discovered and acted upon – was to be accounted for by the existence of God, the creator and sustainer of all. It was recognised that the exercise of reason should be regulated by divine revelation. While we are dependent upon revelation for our knowledge of God, there is nothing more reasonable than the revealed existence of the God of the Bible. The exercise of all the powers of human reason, when regulated by revelation and empowered by grace, is productive of good spiritually and naturally, and its outcome is not blighted by the uses which sinful men make of their discoveries.
However ignorant some may be of the philosophy of the Enlightenment and however sceptical of it others may be, we see everywhere the effects of that autonomy of man and rejection of the God of revelation which it fostered. How much we – ministers of the gospel, but also scientists, educators, people in every realm of life – need to heed the call of God: “Come now, and let us reason together” (Is 1:18)! Subjection of our reasoning to the revelation of God does not stifle the exercise of reason in any realm but ensures that it is exercised in a way truly in keeping with reality.
HMC
Growing Turmoil in the Anglican Church
The more immediate cause of turmoil in the worldwide Anglican Church lies in two controversial decisions in the 2.3-million-strong Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA), a US branch of Anglicanism. The first was to ordain the homosexual bishop, Gene Robinson. The second was to elect as its leader Katharine Schori, Bishop of Nevada, the first woman to head a branch of Anglicanism, and one of the bishops who voted for Robinson – but her controversial election is overshadowed by the Robinson ordination.
About 2700 conservatives in ECUSA, including 800 clergy and 46 bishops, gathered last month for a protest meeting in Dallas, Texas. They demanded that their leaders “repent of and reverse the unbiblical and schismatic” actions in ordaining homosexual clergymen. In response, ECUSA agreed to a resolution to “exercise restraint” in ordaining homosexual bishops – a watered-down version of an earlier resolution to stop doing so. However, the liberal diocese of Newark decided, a week later, to nominate Canon Michael Barlowe, a homosexual priest, as one of four candidates for bishop. As the BBC’s religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott commented, Canon Barlowe’s nomination could barely have come at a more sensitive moment.
“The purest churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error;” says the Westminster Confession of Faith, “and some have so degenerated, as to become no churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan.” It is clear that ECUSA has so degenerated, and the duty of those conservatives in it who grieve over such unscriptural and sinful decisions, is to heed God’s call: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Cor 6:17). NMR
Doctrinal Crisis in the OPC
The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) is an American denomination founded in 1936 by J Gresham Machen, following the triumph of liberalism in the Presbyterian Church of the USA. It has well over 200 congregations and around 25 000 members. It was the denomination in which Professor John Murray was ordained and is still comparatively conservative, at least on paper. It is committed to a slightly-modified version of the Westminster Confession of Faith (rejecting, sadly, the Establishment Principle and identification of the Pope as the man of sin); it opposes homosexuality, abortion and the charismatic movement; and it does not ordain women. It does, however, allow hymns, musical instruments and modern versions of the Bible. It has fraternal links with the Free Church of Scotland and, less formally, with the Free Church (Continuing).
In recent years the denomination has been severely troubled by a heresy
on the doctrine of Justification. This heresy comes in various guises, and under various names such as “the New Perspective on Paul”, “Federal Vision Theology” and “Auburn Avenue Theology”. It originates from the writings of New Testament scholars such as E P Saunders, K Stendahl, and James Dunn; its most influential proponent has been N T Wright, who is currently Bishop of Durham and is professedly Evangelical. This heresy is now established, seemingly beyond remedy, in the OPC.
Without entering into unedifying details, the essence of this heresy, or rather family of heresies, is the subtle re-introduction of works into the doctrine of justification by faith. This is done by redefining terms such as righteousness, justification, imputation, and works of the law so as to include an element of works in the believer’s title to heaven. This has always been Satan’s purpose – to persuade men to rest, in some way, on the rotten foundation of their own righteousness. It was Luther’s rediscovery of the perfect righteousness of Christ as the gift of God, freely bestowed on those who believe, that led to the Reformation; and it is sufficient proof of the deadly nature of this present heresy that it regards Luther’s view of justification as utterly wrong. One of its particular subtleties is that it enables an office-bearer, if his conscience is sufficiently elastic, to give assent to the words of the Westminster Confession while holding an entirely unorthodox view of their meaning.
The heresy was introduced into the OPC by Norman Shepherd, John Murray’s successor as Professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. Following an acrimonious struggle from 1975 to 1982, Shepherd left Westminster Seminary and the OPC and joined the Christian Reformed Church, but his views remained uncondemned. Many of his students and some of his colleagues had imbibed them, and the leaven has been spreading ever since, both in the OPC and in other Evangelical denominations such as the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA). Shepherd has continued to receive invitations to OPC pulpits.
The issue resurfaced in the OPC in 2001 when an elder in Pennsylvania, John O Kinnaird, was tried for heresy and eventually suspended by his kirk session. Kinnaird had been a defender of Norman Shepherd during the 1975-82 crisis, and had even tried to bring a case of discipline against Shepherd’s orthodox opponents. Since that time he had held many prominent positions in the denomination. On appeal, the Presbytery of Philadelphia upheld his suspension by the kirk session, but this was reversed by the General Assembly in 2003 and he is now restored.
The 2006 General Assembly, which has just finished, received a long-awaited report from its Committee on Justification, appointed two years
earlier. The report strongly affirms the orthodox position and opposes the New Perspective, but the upholders of orthodoxy are not hopeful that it will do any good. They point to the following defects: (1) The report does not condemn the New Perspective as heresy. It is not enough merely to declare that it is “error” when it is a false gospel destroying men’s souls. (2) The report turns a blind eye to the existence of this heresy in the OPC. All its criticisms are directed at those outwith the OPC. (3) It is not enough to denounce error, even in strong terms, if one will not proceed eventually to the discipline of those who are guilty. Heretics are generally not nervous types, to be silenced with expressions of disapproval, and they do not usually leave of their own accord. The Assembly has made it plain that those who preach the New Perspective have nothing to fear.
Apart from the necessity of discipline, the crisis also illustrates the scriptural truth that there are ultimately only two ways of salvation: faith and works. The New Perspective begins as a re-juggling of the Protestant doctrine of justification by faith but it soon resembles the Roman doctrine of a justification essentially by works. Already some of its proponents are teaching a form of baptismal regeneration. The real choice is between Protestantism and Romanism, and every variant turns out to be Romanism in disguise. There is only one gospel and one way to heaven, and that is the way which was revealed so plainly to Luther: to trust solely in the righteousness of Christ. “I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of Thy righteousness, even of Thine only” (Ps 71:16). DWBS
Sabbath Opening of Stores
In the words of a press report, “large stores such as Ikea, Asda and Next had hoped to increase the current six-hour limit on Sunday opening [in England and Wales] and become deregulated, as in Scotland”. But Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling has announced: “Having considered all the evidence from the review, we have concluded there should be no change to the Sunday trading laws”.
The news that Sabbath-opening hours are to remain unchanged has been welcomed by trade unions, who are concerned for families to have some opportunity to be together. But those who love the Sabbath and grieve over its desecration have a different motivation, and they are thankful that further desecration of God’s holy day in this particular direction is not to be permitted. Yet they have reason for sadness over the degree to which large stores are already permitted to open on Sabbaths, and the fact that there are no restrictions whatever on the opening of smaller shops.
At the same time, we would dearly love to see measures enacted for the protection of the Sabbath in Scotland. Our Church presented a petition
requesting such measures to the Scottish Parliament last year. The Scottish Executive said in response that such legislation would affect employment rights, which are not devolved to Scotland and remain in the province of the Westminster Parliament. However, the Church was encouraged to resubmit the petition in another form. Accordingly we are requesting the Scottish Executive “to consider and debate the need for a weekly day of rest from work throughout Scotland and to encourage business and commerce to close on that day, and that the day appointed be the Christian Sabbath”.
It seems that some in the Scottish Parliament are concerned that Christmas Day and New Year’s Day be kept free from trading. The Scottish Parliament is therefore seeking views on a proposed bill, which aims to prohibit large shops from opening for trading on those days. (See website www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/bills/59-xmasday/index.htm.)
But the day which really needs to be kept free from trading is the Christian Sabbath. Let us pray that the Scottish Parliament will give a favourable response to our petition, and that at least some of our MSPs will see that their primary concern must be to preserve the only day which God has commanded us to keep: “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy”. NMR
BMA Change on Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide
The campaign for euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide received a boost last year when the British Medical Association voted against opposing the legalisation of physician-assisted suicide. Euthanasia involves the active participation of the doctor, while in physician-assisted suicide the doctor gives a patient the means to commit suicide, by prescribing a lethal dose of a drug for self-administration.
However, just a year after adopting a neutral stance on the issue, the BMA has voted, at its conference in Belfast, to reinstate its policy of outright opposition to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide – by a 65% majority in each case. We believe that this is an answer to the prayers of many who have been deeply concerned by our increasing national decline into a barbaric devaluing of human life. We should not only give thanks to God but continue to pray that this BMA decision will prove an impediment to enacting Lord Joffe’s proposed bill to allow physician-assisted suicide. NMR
The Shame of Europride
Europride was the title which homosexuals gave to a huge procession, of tens of thousands, through the streets of London on July 1. It is especially shocking that representatives of our forces of law, order and defence, in the form of uniformed contingents of the Royal Navy and police, marched in it. Stephen Green of Christian Voice says, “As if that was not enough, the
Metropolitan Police sponsored a reception for homosexual activists and the Gay Police Association is now trying to stir up hatred against Christians with an advert in The Independent linking the Bible and our faith with bloody attacks on homosexuals”.
At one time Christians could look to the police for help against the aggressive agenda of the homosexual lobby but it appears that Christians are more likely to be censured by some police authorities for condemning homosexual practices as against the law of God. It seems to us that hatred against true Christians, on the part of those who promote this sinful and dangerous lifestyle, is becoming more overt. This ought not to stop our mouths; let us rather testify more against their sin and pray increasingly for the speedy arrival of the promised day when such people will no longer “declare their sin as Sodom” (Isa 3:9), and when “all iniquity shall stop her mouth” (Ps 107:42). NMR