The Presbyterian Church of Bull Shoals

Presbyterian ‘Connection’     

January 2012 Volume 19 Issue 1

From the Pen of Reverend Terry

“Do you sincerely receive and adopt the essential tenets of the Reformed faith as expressed in the confessions of our church as authentic and reliable expositions of what Scripture leads us to believe and do, and will  you be instructed and led by those confessions as you lead the people of God?

I recently watched an episode of NCIS where two Special Agents had to interview a terrorist suspect during a power outage.  Normally they would have hooked the suspect up to lie detector but without electricity that wasn’t possible.  What they ended up doing is giving the suspect some Christmas cookies to munch on while they asked him a series of questions.  It worked pretty well.  Whenever the suspect answered a question honestly, he looked straight at them and without hesitation or without taking a bite of the cookie answered.  Whenever the suspect told a lie, he would hesitate and take a bite of the cookie.  Whenever he told a big lie, he choked on the cookie.  

So what does that have to do with us?  Every time I have the privilege of asking newly elected deacons and elders the “Constitutional Questions”, I choke on the one printed at the beginning of this article. I don’t choke because I’m lying.  When I was ordained, I answered this truthfully in the affirmative.  I choke on it because it’s such a long question densely packed with theological statements.  It’s so long that I can’t help thinking of the red, “run-on sentence” marks that my English teacher, Mrs. DeJarnette used to make on every one of my papers.  

At the core of this question is the phrase “essential tenets of the Reformed faith.”  Just what are these essential tenets?  

What it all boils down to is that the essential tenets are “the core theological convictions that unite Presbyterians.”  These “main themes of our common faith as Presbyterians” are:

1. “the mystery of the triune God 
2. the incarnation of the eternal Word of God in Jesus Christ 
3. salvation by grace alone 
4. salvation by faith alone 
5. the authority of scripture 
6. the sovereignty of God 
7. election for service as well as salvation 
8. covenant life together in the church 
9. faithful stewardship that shuns ostentation 
10. seeking justice and living in obedience to the Word of God”

What every ordained person is asked is, “Do you accept and understand these things as true?”  Not only do you understand these things to be true, but do you look to the confessions, (statements of faith) in the Book of Confessions as a source of your understanding.  

Perhaps the best way to understand this question is to take a look at the second statement on the list of essential tenets.   What does it mean to say that, “the incarnation of the eternal Word of God in Jesus Christ” is a true statement and one of our core beliefs?  Where do the Confessions fit into our understanding?  Kirpatrick writes, 

“The basic uncertainty for the early church was over the nature and person of Jesus Christ. Was Jesus just human or was he also God, and was Jesus the God of the Christians, and a different God from the God of Israel? The debates were a long time ago, but the yearning question about who is Jesus Christ is the central question for every Christian today. The Council of Nicea made it clear to all the world that Jesus Christ is both “the only Son of God” and “truly human.” The foundation stone of our faith - and the faith of the whole Church - is that Jesus Christ is God incarnate.”

When we say that Jesus is fully human and fully God we are stating our understanding of Jesus’ nature as expressed in the Nicene Creed.   This early confession was formed from centuries of prayer and debate as persons of faith wrestled to understand the nature of Jesus as presented in Holy Scripture.   The Confessions do not take the place of scripture or take precedence over Scripture.  On the contrary, they rise out of Scripture.

Now that I’ve spent some time digging deeper into this particular question, it should be easier for me to ask it when persons are ordained and installed.  My hope is that it will also help make it easier to answer.  If you’d like more information on The Book of Confessions, let me know.  There are several copies in the library and quite a bit of study material available.  Studying the confessions gives us a glimpse into the lives of earlier believers and helps us to see how the Holy Spirit continues to form the Church.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Terry