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

The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC)

The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) was founded by conservative Presbyterians who revolted against the modernist theology within the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) during the 1930s. Led by J Gresham Machen, who had helped found Westminster Theological Seminary, the church attempted to preserve historic Calvinism within a Presbyterian structure. Machen was one of the chief conservative professors at Princeton Theological Seminary, which until the early twentieth century was a bastion of orthodox Presbyterian theology. In 1929, the Board of the seminary reorganized along more liberal lines, and began hiring professors who were significantly more friendly towards modernism and some forms of liberalism. Machen and a group of other conservatives objected to these changes, forming Westminster Theological Seminary in 1929. Then, objecting to theological positions that he believed compromised the distinctives of the Reformed tradition, if not the basic tenets of Christianity itself, Machen pled his case before the General Assembly of the PCUSA. The Assembly refused to take action, and so Machen and several other professors, along with a group of fellow conservatives, formed the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions. In 1934, the General Assembly condemned this action and Machen and his allies were relieved of their positions and effectively thrown out of the denomination. On June 11, 1936, Machen and a group of conservative ministers, elders, and laymen met in Philadelphia to form the Presbyterian Church of America (not to be confused with the Presbyterian Church in America which organized half a century later). The PCUSA filed suit against the fledgling denomination for their choice of name, and in 1939 the denomination renamed itself the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. At the time leading up to the founding of the OPC, Machen and his allies in the PCUSA were considered to be prominent leaders of Christian fundamentalism, to the extent that fundamentalism is a defense of traditional Protestant Christianity. However, Machen and the majority of the OPC were committed to the Reformed tradition rather than to the fundamentalist movement as such. By 1937, a faction of the OPC more committed to a fundamentalist direction, distinguished by ministers who would preach total abstinence from alcohol, tolerance of premillennialism, opposition to the ecumenical movement, and political activism against the Communist party, broke away under the leadership of Carl McIntire to form the Bible Presbyterian Church. Early leaders in the denomination include Cornelius Van Til, Gordon Clark and John Murray. The denomination maintains a cordial relationship with the Presbyterian Church in America, the largest conservative Reformed denomination in the United States, with which the OPC almost merged in the 1970s. The two differ from each other more in origin and history than doctrine, though the OPC is traditionally more conservative than the PCA in its services. The OPC is also pursuing ecumenical relations with the Bible Presbyterian Church.

The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)

The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is a Protestant denomination, the second largest Presbyterian church body in the United States after the Presbyterian Church (USA). The PCA professes a strong commitment to evangelism, missionary work, and Christian education. The church declares its goal to be "faithful to the Scriptures, true to the reformed faith, and obedient to the Great Commission." The origins of the PCA lie in a re-alignment of American Presbyterianism, which since the Civil War had been divided along North-South lines (the UPCUSA and the PCUS, respectively). Movement towards a national merger (which occurred in 1983) had begun to take shape by the early 1970s, and was accelerated by the decision of many dissident congregations (generally conservative) to withdraw from the PCUS. In December 1973, delegates from 260 congregations (primarily from Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina) that had left the Presbyterian Church in the United States gathered at Briarwood Presbyterian Church in suburban Birmingham, Ala., and organized the "National Presbyterian Church." After protest from a UPCUSA congregation of the same name in Washington, D.C. [1], the denomination adopted its present name in 1974. According to the PCA's official website, it "separated from the PCUS in opposition to the long-developing theological liberalism which denied the deity of Jesus Christ and inerrancy and authority of Scripture." Additionally, the PCA maintained a conservative position regarding the matter of women in church offices, excluding them. Less explicitly stated, though likely also influential, were opposition in some quarters to the civil rights movement and support of the U.S. conflict in Vietnam. The mid-1970s witnessed the PCA's first significant acquisition of congregations outside the South, when several conservative UPCUSA churches in Ohio and Pennsylvania joined the PCA. This move was precipitated by a case regarding an ordination candidate denied by the Pittsburgh presbytery because of his refusal to support women's ordination to either the ministry or eldership (a decision upheld by the UPCUSA General Assembly). More significantly numerically, though, was the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod merging with the PCA in 1982. The RPCES had been formed in 1965 by a merger of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America, General Synod. The latter body maintained a direct historical tie to the Scottish Covenanter tradition. The RPCES brought two important things: a more nationally-based membership, and a college and theological seminary, the latter of which the PCA did not officially have up to that point, relying instead on independent evangelical institutions such as Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Miss. Also that year and in 1983, on the eve of the UPCUSA's and PCUS' merger into the current Presbyterian Church (USA) (or PCUSA), several PCUS churches that had originally decided to remain loyal in 1973 opted to defect to the PCA. A clause in the Plan of Union between the two mainline bodies allowed dissenting PCUS congregations to refrain from joining the merger and to join the denomination of their choosing. These moves laid the foundation for a body that has engaged in aggressive evangelistic work, most notably in church planting. Especially since the late 1980s, the PCA has focused its efforts toward establishing congregations in suburbs of fast-growing metropolitan areas, particularly in the South and the Western U.S. As with American Presbyterianism generally, its chief constituency is Euro-American, belongs to the middle or upper-middle class, and places a high premium on personal discipline and family life.

Letters and Gospels came together as part of THE BIBLE (New Testament) affirming the "oral traditions" and to discern other oral traditions that are not listed in the Bible. 2 Thessalonians 2:15 So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.