Bible Presbyterian Church

The Bible Presbyterian Church was formed in 1937, predominantly through the efforts of such conservative Presbyterian clergymen as Carl McIntire, J. Oliver Buswell and Allen A. MacRae. Francis Schaeffer was also an early member. The First General Synod of the Bible Presbyterian Church was held in 1938 in Collingswood, NJ. The Bible Presbyterian Church was an offshoot of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, formed slightly earlier and a continuation of the Presbyterian Church of America (not to be confused with the similar but later Presbyterian Church in America). Once the conservative faction had left the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA), they found that there was considerable dissension among the conservatives themselves, and it became evident that there were two groups within the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. The first group was more closely bound to conservative modes of worship, theological formulations, and the like. This group held to the classic formulations of Reformed theology and piety and remained within the "Orthodox" faction. The other faction had a conservatism that was more of a cultural and political conservatism, and saw the actions of the PCUSA as symptomatic of a rejection of long-held principles of conservative Christianity by much of the larger American society. This group was essentially fundamentalist in nature, and became associated with the "Bible" faction. McIntire laid the basis for much of what was to come to be called the "Christian right" in American religion and politics. Two main issues made the existence of these factions within the Orthodox Presbyterian Church evident. The first had to do with a classic Reformed piety over against a piety of fundamentalism. It came down to a conflict of the use of alcoholic beverages. The "Orthodox" side condemned drunkenness, but nevertheless, did not agree that Scripture taught total abstinence from alcoholic beverages. The "Bible" side asserted that Christians ought to abstain totally from alcohol. The second issue was over faithfulness to Covenant Theology versus the toleration of Dispensationalism. Those on the "Bible" side had come to tolerate, and even use the popular Scofield Reference Bible whose notes taught the theological system called Dispensationalism rather than Covenant Theology historically held in Reformed churches. Scofield's notes were under considerable criticism by faculty members of Westminster Theological Seminary, who led the "Orthodox" faction. Historic premillennialism was tolerated within the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, yet the Dispensational form of premillennialism was considered to be serious error. Those who came to call themselves "Bible Presbyterians" saw the serious criticisms against Scofield's notes as a swipe against historic premillennialism itself, rather than merely the Dispensational form of premillennialism, and wanted the freedom to use the Scofield Reference Bible. The formal exodus of Bible Presbyterian churches came about in 1938, only two years after the forming of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, but it was not on unkind terms, as with the original split with the PCUSA. It should be noted that the Bible Presbyterian Church has always maintained the unity of the Covenant of grace (a decidedly non-dispensational position), and has passed resolutions against dispensationalism in its annual Synod meetings. In 1955/1956 a split occurred in the Bible Presbyterian Church. The one group eventually took the name Evangelical Presbyterian Church. A few years later it merged with the Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America, General Synod and then with the Presbyterian Church in America. The remaining synod retained the name Bible Presbyterian Church and today is rather small but influential well beyond its numbers. Bible Presbyterians do not have synod-controlled boards for missions and education, but annually approve independent agencies for mission work as well as colleges and seminaries. The Bible-Presbyterian Church in Singapore is divided into two branches. One group of churches subscribe to the fundamentlist stance of founders, the other consider themselves to be evangelical. This latter group of churches are denounced by the former to be "neo-evangelical", "liberal" and often call "the new BPs" because of a different interpretation on the doctrine of "Biblical Separation". The evangelical branch of Bible-Presbyterian churches embraces the fellowship of any church and seminary that is evangelical and Christian and extends cooperation with para-church organisations like the International Campus Crusade for Christ. Thus, it not surprising that many aspiring ministers prefer an evangelical seminary (e.g. Fuller Theological Seminary, Singapore Bible College, Trinity Theological College, University of Nottingham, etc) than one that is fundamentalistic, i.e. Far Eastern Bible College