GAC Executive Committee issues letter
to the church on Jesus as Lord and Savior
Letter responds to conservative criticisms of
Peacemaking Conference address
from Presbyterian News Service, 10/25/00
Editor's note: Following is the complete text of a
letter to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) from the General Assembly
Council's Executive Committee. The letter, dated Oct. 25, 2000, comes
as a response to general concerns expressed since the Presbyterian
Peacemaking Conference this summer about the denomination's position
on the Lordship of Jesus Christ and to a specific concern addressed to
the GAC by the session of Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas.
-- Jerry L. Van Marter
A note from your WebWeaver:
While the large part of this statement reaffirms
very traditional, orthodox views of the significance of Christ for our
church, it is important to note that the GAC also affirms Dirk Ficca's
"right to his own views and we reaffirm the propriety of the
Peacemaking Conference Planning Team's decision to invite Dr. Ficca to
be one of the speakers at this particular conference. Our church's
Historic Principles of Church Order (G-1.0300) declare that "God
alone is Lord of the conscience ..."
Click here for the
paragraph that says all this more fully.
Now, the letter:
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Recent statements in a church conference, press
reports, interpretations by church officials, and actions of the General
Assembly Council have created some confusion about the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.)'s witness to God's grace in Jesus Christ. We, the
Executive Committee of the General Assembly Council, wish to clarify
matters by stating clearly the confessional stance of the church and by
declaring our own trust in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love
of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.
The witness of Scripture, the testimony of the church
throughout the centuries, and our own faith is unambiguous. We affirm
Paul's proclamation that "in Christ, God was reconciling the world
to himself" (2 Cor. 5:19). We receive gratefully the good news
proclaimed by our Lord, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). Biblical
faith continues to be the Christian faith, the church's faith, our
faith.
From the early centuries of the church to the
contemporary life of congregations each Lord's Day, Christians gather at
the waters of Baptism to express faith using the words of the Apostles'
Creed. The Creed's gracious narrative of God's mission centers on the
incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and promised coming
of Jesus Christ, who is Lord and Savior.
The Nicene Creed confesses our church's belief that
this one Lord Jesus Christ is "God from God, Light from Light, true
God from true God" who was "incarnate of the Holy Spirit and
the Virgin Mary and became truly human" (1.2). This foundational
faith is confessed throughout our church's confessions, from the
baptismal affirmations of the Apostles' Creed to the Brief Statement of
Faith's trust in Jesus Christ, "fully human, fully God"
(10.2). The witness of the confessions is constant. The witness of a
church that is instructed, led, and guided by the confessions is also
constant.
Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior!
We affirm that the church's creeds, confessions, and
catechisms bear witness to the truth about God and God's way in the
world. We also affirm that this truth is not an abstract proposition.
God's self-giving in Jesus Christ was "for us and for our
salvation" (1.2). Thus, A Brief Statement of Faith begins
with our grateful response to what God has done:
In life and in death we belong to God.
Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit,
we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel
whom alone we worship and adore. (10.1)
The General Assembly Council is spending this year in
a study of the letter to the Ephesians. We have been drawn to the
ringing declaration that "There is one body and one Spirit, just as
you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith,
one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all
and in all" (Eph. 4:4-6). This is the faith we share and the good
news we proclaim. Yet questions arise: How are we to understand our
faith and shape our proclamation in a local and global reality of
religious pluralism? How should we relate to adherents of other living
faiths, especially those who are our neighbors? How shall we view their
faith, and how shall we share our faith with them?
The questions are not new, but the North American
context of religious pluralism is new. Although they are not
confessional documents, the church's recently approved catechisms help
to frame the questions and to provide answers that can be embodied in
our own faith and witness. In a remarkable sequence at the end of the
section on the second article of the Apostles' Creed, The Study
Catechism addresses the concerns of Presbyterians.
Question 49. Will all human beings be saved?
No one will be lost who can be saved. The limits to
salvation, whatever they may be, are known only to God. Three truths
above all are certain. God is a holy God who is not to be trifled with.
No one will be saved except by grace alone. And no judge could possibly
be more gracious than our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.
Question 50. Is Christianity the only true religion?
Religion is a complex matter. When used as a means to
promote self-justification, war-mongering, or prejudice, it is a form of
sin. Too often all religions -- and not least Christianity -- have been
twisted in this way. Nevertheless, by grace, despite all disobedience,
Christianity offers the truth of the gospel. Although other religions
may enshrine various truths, no other can or does affirm the name of
Jesus Christ as the hope of the world.
Question 51. How does God deal with the followers of
other religions?
God has made salvation available to all human beings
through Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. How God will deal with those
who do not know or follow Christ, but who follow another tradition, we
cannot finally say. We can say, however, that God is gracious and
merciful, and that God will not deal with people in any other way than
we see in Jesus Christ, who came as the savior of the world.
Question 52. How should I treat non-Christians and
people of other religions?
As much as I can, I should meet friendship with
friendship, hostility with kindness, generosity with gratitude,
persecution with forbearance, truth with agreement, and error with
truth. I should express my faith with humility and devotion as the
occasion requires, whether silently or openly, boldly or meekly, by word
or by deed. I should avoid compromising the truth on the one hand and
being narrow-minded on the other. In short, I should always welcome and
accept these others in a way that honors and reflects the Lord's welcome
and acceptance of me.
While these questions and answers from The Study
Catechism do not say all there is to be said, they provide Presbyterians
with faithful, shared insights into our relationships with other
religions and people of other faiths. We urge congregations, sessions,
presbyteries, and synods to give sustained attention to the central
affirmations of Christian faith, deepening personal and corporate
discipleship, and renewing commitments to joyful evangelism.
We position the work of the General Assembly Council
within the Presbyterian Principles for Interfaith Dialogue, approved by
the 211th General Assembly (1998), and draw special attention to the
fourth principle: "In our pluralistic world, we confess that Jesus
is the truth and the way; through him God gives life. Jesus does not
point to truth but is the truth, in his person."
Having unequivocally
stated our theological foundation, we also call attention to the General
Assembly's direction to value ecumenical, cross-cultural and interfaith
conversation. It is our understanding that the intent of the Peacemaking
Conference, Uncommon Ground: Living Faithfully in a Diverse World, was
"to confront and converse with culture" while honoring
"both God's gift of freedom and the necessity of exercising that
freedom within certain boundaries." We reaffirm Dr. Ficca's right
to his own views and we reaffirm the propriety of the Peacemaking
Conference Planning Team's decision to invite Dr. Ficca to be one of the
speakers at this particular conference. Our church's Historic Principles
of Church Order (G-1.0300) declare that "God alone is Lord of the
conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of
men which are in anything contrary to his Word, or beside it, in matters
of faith or worship." These Historic Principles also declare that
"there are truths and forms of truth with respect to which men of
good characters and principles may differ. And in all these we think it
the duty both of private Christians and societies to exercise mutual
forbearance toward each other."
We trust that these conversations will continue, and
pray that they will deepen our faith and strengthen our witness.
Peace be to the whole community, and love with faith,
from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who
have an undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Eph. 6:23f.)
