The Confession of the Church 10

In this, my last posting on the nature of a Confession of faith, taken from Arthur C. Cochrane’s book, The Church’s Confession Under Hitler, I intend to simply quote the author. The text is extremely important; hopefully others will be encouraged to read this book with some interest in the history of that period in Church History and some thought toward the future.

I intend to follow this series up with another on how the Confessing Church survived as a Church within a heretical Church. The information will come mostly from a document attached to the Declaration of Barmen found in The Churches Confession Under Hitler. As I have stated in a footnote, “Those who formulated the Declaration of Barmen also laid out some practical steps for being the Church in a time of division and crisis. This can be found under Barmen as “III. Resolution of the Confessional Synod of the German Evangelical Church.”

The 10th characteristic of a Confession of Faith:

“A Confession of Faith possesses a relative and subordinate authority and freedom. They are founded upon and limited by the absolute and unique authority and freedom of God’s word in Holy scripture. When the Church confesses Jesus Christ as attested in Holy Scripture in the name of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church and in continuity with the Fathers, when its confession fulfills both the dogmatic and ethical requirements of a Confession, and when it comes forth with an unequivocal Yes and a No, such a Confession exercises authority. …”

Referring to the confessional authority as spiritual authority Cochrane goes on to write of the nature of that authority:

“The authority of the creeds and Confessions is not due to the fact that they have been adopted in the constitutions of certain Churches. Conversely, the authority of a Confession is not abolished or lessened by the fact that certain Churches have refused to recognize their validity in Church law.”

Cochrane asks the important question, “Who will deny that the ecumenical Creeds and the Confessions of the Reformation still exercise authority even in so-called confessionless Churches?”

Cochrane shows how the true Confession of Faith is in fact a Christological act. He writes:

“The primary condition of a Confession, the possibility of a Confession, is not that men decide to confess Christ for a variety of reasons—say, for the sake of a Church union—but that Christ for no reason at all, that is, in his sovereign freedom, has decided to confess himself to us. A Confession is Christological not only in the fact that its articles are related to Christ but in the sense that he is the confessor. The Church confesses only in him! The Confession occurs not when we think we have discovered the truth, but when the truth has found us.”

Cochrane writes of the possibility of another or new Confession of Faith by the Church in other lands in his and now our day. He asks some questions. I will finish with some of his questions:

“Are we on the threshold of a day when the Church knows that its only weapon and defense will be its Confession of Faith? Are we conscious of some great heresy by which our Churches are ‘grievously imperiled’ and of some great truth by which we are possessed? Are we prepared to make dogmatic and, much more important, ethical decisions as a Church, and for the sake of them to lose our life in order to find it?”

The Confession of the Church 1
The Confession of the Church 2
The Confession of the Church 3
The Confession of the Church 4
The Confession of the Church 5a
The Confession of the Church 5b
The Confession of the Church 6
The Confession of the Church 7
The Confession of the Church 8
The Confession of the Church 9

Just One More

I am linking to just one more posting on Sarah Palin (and others). Barb Moody on her blog I was just thinking" has posted what ought to be done and said for all. "Wednesday Review: Sarah Palin." Prayers for everyone! Thank you Barb.

Driven Mad on My Anniversary

Forty-seven years ago Viola May Trotter married Jack Bradford Larson Jr. Today we are going somewhere, Napa Valley, the Bay Area? and have a nice day. But first I am being driven mad by the media's hate-filled focus on Sarah Palin. I am linking to two very different and very good postings about her and the media.

The first is Rev. Kim's Saddened at Called to be the Pastor's Wife and the Pastor.

Rev. Kim writes among other things:

"I'm saddened that smart, accomplished people are presuming that this woman has nothing to offer her country and this country's women, simply because of the views she holds and the party she represents.

I'm saddened that smart, accomplished people who call for diversity of thought and belief on a wide range of issues only seem to welcome such diversity of thought and belief when it aligns with their own."

The other is on the Anchoress, entitled "Sarah & Bristol Meltdown the Haters."

The Anchoress' words include:

"They’re in trouble over there. [forums of the far-left], They’re in serious trouble of the mind, and trouble of the heart and trouble of the soul. They are so paranoid, and so full of hate, at this point, that they are clinging to an insane idea - one that betrays a sort of soul-sickness that leaves me feeling both incredulous and chilled.

How much do you have to love your hate in order to surrender your reason, and your humanity, to it?"

It is also helpful to go to Get Religion . Org and read some of their articles.

My son David and Thousand Year Star Productions

Some pictures by my son David and his new web site.

The first a sunflower from my garden. The next some of my tomatoes before they began to ripen.

Brothers; you can surely tell.

Roses from my garden; they bloomed like a wedding bouquet. Some members of a good Presbyterian family : ) Three are not pictured including a wonderful son-in-law. The mother of my great grand-child. She did design the pretty tattoo on her leg.

My son David is entering the world of film and photography. Here is his new web site. Thousand Year Star Productions. Be sure to visit this part of his site where he has a wedding highlights video on U-Tube.

The Surprising thoughts of a ten year old

Up-date! Okay I am in trouble this child is ten! If you had seventeen grandchildren you might make that mistake too!

It’s surprising the concepts and understanding a TEN year old child can have, as well as the compassion. One of my granddaughters sent me a get well card she made today.

Like Sherman’s march to the sea the shingles have been marching steadily across the upper part of the right side of my face for the last several days coming a bit too close to one of my eyes for comfort. If any thing I write sounds strange just blame it on the steroids and the pain pills!

Anyway, the card: The front page has a beautiful traced leaf, and the words “life has good things.”

On the inside left page she has drawn pictures. There is a lightening streak with the word “pain,” and a broken ring with the words “divorce.” (No we are not getting a divorce no matter how badly I look at the moment!)

There is fire with the words “anger” and a person falling down into the middle of some water with the words “loneliness.”

There is a rose falling apart with the words “ended love” and a tear drop with “sadness.” There are a lot of dark lines and scary eyes with the word “scariness.” And finally right in the middle are the words “But Life has bad things.”

But on the right-hand page are the words “And I know God can help you through it all! Get well soon!

And just for fun on the backside it says Egg Cards.

So I would like to share. For anyone else out there that has a rebel Sherman marching through your life at the moment may the Lord bring comfort your way.

The Confession of the Church 9

I remember when the Confessing Churches in the Presbyterian Church USA formed. That was around the time I started writing for renewal groups in the Church, in particular, for Voices of Orthodox Women. The Confessing Churches did not write a Confession of Faith.

They did ascribe to three statements they wanted to emphasize. But they were roundly criticized for their name and their statements. This is what the ninth character of a Confession of Faith is about. Arthur C. Cochrane in his book The Church’s Confession Under Hitler using his chapter on the nature of a Confession of faith explains:

“A genuine Confession of Faith invariably provokes opposition from the false church and from the world precisely because in its witness to God’s free grace for all people it constitutes a radical attack upon the false Church and the world. As a fighting action of the Church it runs against the stream. According to Matt., ch. 10, the confessors will be hated by all men. A man’s foes will be those of his own household, and he will be dragged before governors and kings for Christ’s sake.”

Of course in the United States you can only throw words not stones.

Cochrane points out that a Confession of Faith will not only affirm the faith but also condemn those prevailing heresies of the era.

He writes of the damnamus of a Confession:

“A genuine Confession, therefore, will not merely confess, declare, and teach; implicitly or explicitly, it will also condemn, reject, and anathematize the opposing error. … This feature of a Confession has often been lamented and denounced on the ground of its intolerance and lovelessness.

The truth is that the negative exists for the sake of the positive, for the sake of definiteness and clarity, Hitler had no objections to Christians who confessed that Jesus is Lord; but he was enraged when they confessed that Jesus is Lord and Hitler is not.

Moreover, the damnamus, like the woes Jesus pronounced upon the Pharisees, has to be uttered just for the sake of a genuine love for the erring brethren. To spare them the anathema would be neither loving nor truthful. Obviously the anathema ought not to be excised rashly or self-righteously. But if we do not have the confidence to say ‘we condemn,’ if we still want to indulge in innocuous sweet-sounding affirmations that can neither give offense nor engender strong loyalties, then it is a sure sign that we are not ready to confess at all.” (I have divided this paragraph up into three parts to make it easier reading.)

I have mostly quoted from Cochrane's book for this posting. I think what Cochrane has to say under his ninth point is so important, now, in the United States at a time when we are so careful not to offend. Diversity is a wonderful word when it is not used to undermine the faith of the church by placing untruths beside truth.

I know a small PCUSA church in my town whose diversity is amazing. People of many ethnic groups attend. There is a wide range of ages, and members include both those who are single and many families. There are many differing personalities that attend. I know this because my Daughter and Son-in-law and their large and "diverse" family attend. Yet, most members stand upon the firm foundation that includes faithfulness to Scripture, faithfulness to Jesus Christ as Lord and faithfulness to each other. This is a proper use of the word diversity for the Church of Jesus Christ. We have a choice to either offend the world or offend Jesus Christ.

Links to Organizations and Individuals who are providing a direction for faithfulness

Links to information for those who are concerned about the actions of the 2008 General Assembly.

Several renewal organizations and individuals are doing excellent work pointing out a direction for those in the PCUSA who are Evangelical, Reformed and orthodox. They are attempting to help individuals and Churches stay and in that staying be faithful to Jesus Christ. Since I have been part of one forum on the GA and will help with another Sunday night I want to place a group of links on my blog where others might find help. It is meant as a resource for others to use.

I am posting them here and will later put them on the side of my blog :

Presbyterians for Renewal: This site has many good articles and ideas.

The Presbyterian Coalition This is a group that has been faithful for many years. They still are with many great ideas and perseverance.

Rev Dr. Mark Roberts , Senior Director and Scholar in Residence at Laity Lodge in Tex, has been blogging on this subject since General Assembly. (with a few breaks)

Michael Walker, Theologian in Residence at Highland Presbyterian Church in Dallas Tex, at Regula Fidei has just began an excellent series "What Way Ahead?"

New Wineskins Association of Churches, While some of the Churches belonging to this group have and are leaving the PCUSA there are many who are not. I know there is compassionate fellowship here.

In addition to this for news of the whole Church the best spot is Presbyweb whose founder and web master is Hans Cornelder. This is a subscription site but not expensive and well worth it.

And finally here is a posting by Robert Austell, Pastor of Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church in Charlotte NC. I think his posting says all that can be said: some things are bigger than GA.

All of the renewal groups can be found here: http://www.ppl.org/renewal.html.

I will undoubtedly add more sites to this list.