Dabney on Confessionalism and 6 Day Creation

I would beg you to notice how distinctly either of the current theories [Gap Theory or Day-Age Theory] contradicts the standards of our Church. See Conf. of Faith, ch. iv, §1. Larger Cat., que. 15, 120. Our Confession is not inspired ; and if untrue, it should be refuted. But if your minds are made up to adopt either of these theories, then it seems to me that common honesty requires of you two things ; to advertise your Presbyteries, when you apply for license and ordination, of your disbelief of these articles; that they may judge whether they are essential to our system of doctrine ; and second; to use your legitimate influences as soon as you become church rulers, to have these articles expunged from our standards as false.

Robert Dabney, Lectures in Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervon, 1972), 256.

ARPTalk Update

Dr. Charles Wilson has two new articles up at ARPTalk. The first is my own article posted here last week: "Understanding the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church & Its Relation to Erskine College and Seminary."

The second is written by Dr. Wilson himself: "Erskine Theological Seminary Irrelevant to the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church." In it, Dr. Wilson makes some very poignant observations concerning our Seminary, including that Dr. Steve Lowe, the interim Executive Vice President of Erskine Seminary, is a United Methodist minister. He also points out that our Barthian Professors are still "looming large like the proverbial elephant-in-the-room." Erskine Seminary has some serious problems. Head over to ARPTalk and read it all for yourself.

Good Post on "Recovering the Reformed Confession" and 6 Day Creation

Yesterday, while doing some browsing on the subject of six day creation, I came upon this article: Two-Edged Sword: Recovering the Reformed Confessions and 6 Day Creation. It was a good read, so I pass it on to you.

The author ("Lee") makes five points concerning the arguments Dr. R. Scott Clark makes in Recovering the Reformed Confession regarding six day creation:

1. Clark starts by stating that proponents of the 6/24 hour day view of creation have always been unable to show a theological reason for holding to this view.
2. Clark dismisses the argument of David Hall and others that point to WCF 4.1 and the "in the space of six days" statement as addressing a different question. [a personal pet peeve of mine!]
3. Clark has a long excursus on heliocentric versus geocentric universe discussions in the past.
4. Clark claims these men came to their views "exegetically" and thus it is an extraconfessional and exegetical disagreement.
5. Clark states this is not a debate between "two religions . . . not even between two different hermeneutical principles, but rather a debate over the application of those principles and specific exegetical applications" (pg.61).

Lee then deals with each of these five points and shows how Clark got it wrong. Go over to Two-Edged Sword and read it all.

Al Mohler Sees that One Thing Leads to Another

After reading about the two professors at Calvin College who say we must redefine our doctrine of original sin because of evolutionary theory, I saw an article by Dr. Albert Mohler which confirmed what I wrote. Dr. Mohler writes (emphasis added):

If evolution is true, then the entire narrative of the Bible has to be revised and reinterpreted. The evolutionary account is not only incompatible with any historical affirmation of Genesis – it is also incompatible with the claim that all humanity is descended from Adam and the claim that in Adam all humanity fell into sin and guilt. The Bible’s account of the Fall and its consequences is utterly incompatible with evolutionary theory. The third chapter of Genesis is as problematic for evolutionary theory as the first two.

See the entire article by Dr. Mohler, here: Creation vs. Evolution: The New Shape of the Debate.

Another Split Presbytery in the PCA

Covenant Presbytery voted to approve the amendments to the PCA BCO 14-1, but rejected the amendment to BCO 14-2 (just as Ohio Valley Presbytery had done previously). The updated map can be viewed below:

Denial of Six Day Creation Leads to...

Yesterday, I saw the following headline on The Aquila Report: "At Calvin College: Questions Raised About Adam and Eve and the Fall." Some snippets from the article include:

Professors Daniel Harlow and John Schneider of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., published scholarly articles asserting that strong evidence from both biblical studies and science creates conflicts with parts of the historic Reformed confessions and requires theological explanation.

and

In particular, they question whether Adam and Eve actually existed, whether there was a literal Fall, and whether we need to reinterpret the doctrine of original sin as presented in the Reformed confessions.

While I greatly admire the work that the gentlemen at The Aquila Report do, I had to ask myself, how is this news?

The Christian Reformed Church has never taken a stance on the length of the days of creation, though they have in the past declared theories of evolution as unacceptable. There is a natural progression from ambiguity on the days of creation to denial of a historical Adam and Eve to "reinterpreting the doctrine of original sin." Should we at all be surprised then, that those who deny the doctrine of creation continue into greater error?

Six day creation is a fundamental tenet of reformed theology. There is a reason the Westminster divines added the clause "in the space of six days" to the Confession. We must do all we can to preserve this system of doctrine and do away with compromising theories. Defense of six day creation is, after all, a defense of God's revealed word.

Neely Gaston Accepts Position at Gordon-Conwell

This story was just reported by the ARP Blog:

Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary announced today that Dr. Neely Gaston, former Erskine Theological Seminary Executive Vice President, will join the Seminary’s Charlotte (NC) team as Chief Advancement Officer.

Which I find interesting, in light of what was reported twelve days ago, at the same site:

Dr. Neely Gaston resigned his position as executive vice president of Erskine Theological Seminary this morning. “Over the past few months, Neely and I have discussed his growing desire to return to pastoral ministry,” said Erskine President David Norman. “This desire, combined with the intensity of the events over the past 18 months at Erskine, has led Neely to this decision."

Just interesting, that's all.