Yesterday the news broke that the Standing Judicial Commission of the Presbyterian Church in America had completed its investigation of the Louisiana Presbytery. At issue is the theological views of one of its ministers, Rev. Steve Wilkins, whose voluminous writings have convinced many that he has strayed beyond the boundaries of the Westminster Confession of Faith.
The SJC conducted this work because it had been alleged by more than one party that the Louisiana Presbytery had failed to adequately examine Rev. Wilkins to determine if, indeed, his views were inconsistent with the Westminster Confession of Faith. The SJC found that the Louisiana Presbytery failed to do its work in examining Rev. Wilkins' theological views.
In the PCA all officers (ministers, elders and deacons) must subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith. This does not mean that every 'jot and tittle' must be affirmed but that any exceptions taken to the WCF must not "strike at the fundamentals of the system of doctrine" contained therein. Consequently each presbytery must examine all candidates for ministry and inquire about any exceptions to the WCF that may be held. Such exceptions must be classified and recorded in the presbytery minutes (which are subject to annual review by the General Assembly). Here are the four classifications by which differences with (exceptions to) the WCF must be recorded:
a) the candidate stated that he had no differences; or
b) the court judged the stated difference(s) to be merely semantic; or
c) the court judged the stated difference(s) to be more than semantic, but “not out of accord with any fundamental of our system of doctrine” (BCO 21-4); or
d) the court judged the stated difference(s) to be “out of accord,” that is, “hostile to the system” or “strik[ing] at the vitals of religion” (BCO 21-4).
NOTE: The Louisiana Presbytery failed to record Rev. Wilkins' stated differences to the WCF (as found in his writings) based on this four-fold list of criteria.
What will happen next is unclear. The Louisiana Presbytery has until February 1, 2008 to decide what course of action they will take. You can read a more detailed explanation here:
http://greenbaggins.wordpress.com/2008/01/06/pca-indictment-of-louisiana-presbytery/#comments
NOTE: You will need to scroll up to read the article in its entirety. For some reason the link is taking readers to the comments section.
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