wfn.org | GAC Executive Committee issues letter to the church on Jesus as Lord

[PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org]

Note #6235 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

and Savior
25-October-2000
00374

GAC Executive Committee issues letter to the church on Jesus as Lord and
Savior

Letter is response to concerns growing out of Peacemaking Conference

Editor's note: Following is the complete text of a letter to the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) from the General Assembly Council's Executive
Committee.  The letter, dated Oct. 25, 2000,  comes as a response to general
concerns expressed since the Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference this summer
about the denomination's position on the Lordship of Jesus Christ and to a
specific concern addressed to the GAC by the session of Highland Park
Presbyterian Church in Dallas. — Jerry L. Van Marter

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

	Recent statements in a church conference, press reports, interpretations by
church officials, and actions of the General Assembly Council have created
some confusion about the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s witness to God's
grace in Jesus Christ.  We, the Executive Committee of the General Assembly
Council, wish to clarify matters by stating clearly the confessional stance
of the church and by declaring our own trust in the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.

	The witness of Scripture, the testimony of the church throughout the
centuries, and our own faith is unambiguous.  We affirm Paul's proclamation
that "in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself" (2 Cor. 5:19). 
We receive gratefully the good news proclaimed by our Lord, "I am the way,
and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me"
(John 14:6).  Biblical faith continues to be the Christian faith, the
church's faith, our faith.

	From the early centuries of the church to the contemporary life of 
congregations each Lord's Day, Christians gather at the waters of Baptism to
express faith using the words of the Apostles' Creed.  The Creed's gracious
narrative of God's mission centers on the incarnation, crucifixion,
resurrection, ascension, and promised coming of Jesus Christ, who is Lord
and Savior.

	The Nicene Creed confesses our church's belief that this one Lord Jesus
Christ is "God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God" who was
"incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human"
(1.2).  This foundational faith is confessed throughout our church's
confessions, from the baptismal affirmations of the Apostles' Creed to the
Brief Statement of Faith's trust in Jesus Christ, "fully human, fully God"
(10.2).  The witness of the confessions is constant.  The witness of a
church that is instructed, led, and guided by the confessions is also
constant.

	Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior!

	We affirm that the church's creeds, confessions, and catechisms bear
witness to the truth about God and God's way in the world.  We also affirm
that this truth is not an abstract proposition.  God's self-giving in Jesus
Christ was "for us and for our salvation" (1.2).  Thus, A Brief Statement of
Faith begins with our grateful response to what God has done:
	In life and in death we belong to God.
	Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
	the love of God,
	and the communion of the Holy Spirit,
	we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel
	whom alone we worship and adore.   (10.1)

	The General Assembly Council is spending this year in a study of the letter
to the Ephesians.  We have been drawn to the ringing declaration that "There
is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your
calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is
above all and through all and in all" (Eph. 4:4-6).   This is the faith we
share and the good news we proclaim. Yet questions arise: How are we to
understand our faith and shape our proclamation in a local and global
reality of religious pluralism?  How should we relate to adherents of other
living faiths, especially those who are our neighbors?  How shall we view
their faith, and how shall we share our faith with them?

	The questions are not new, but the North American context of religious
pluralism is new.  Although they are not confessional documents, the
church's recently approved catechisms help to frame the questions and to
provide answers that can be embodied in our own faith and witness.  In a
remarkable sequence at the end of the section on the second article of the
Apostles' Creed, The Study Catechism addresses the concerns of
Presbyterians.

Question 49. Will all human beings be saved?
No one will be lost who can be saved.  The limits to salvation, whatever
they may be, are known only to God.  Three truths above all are certain. 
God is a holy God who is not to be trifled with.  No one will be saved
except by grace alone.  And no judge could possibly be more gracious than
our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

Question 50.  Is Christianity the only true religion?
Religion is a complex matter.  When used as a means to promote
self-justification, war-mongering, or prejudice, it is a form of sin.  Too
often all religions -- and not least Christianity -- have been twisted in
this way.  Nevertheless, by grace, despite all disobedience, Christianity
offers the truth of the gospel.  Although other religions may enshrine
various truths, no other can or does affirm the name of Jesus Christ as the
hope of the world.

Question 51.  How does God deal with the followers of other religions?
God has made salvation available to all human beings through Jesus Christ,
crucified and risen.  How God will deal with those who do not know or follow
Christ, but who follow another tradition, we cannot finally say.  We can
say, however, that God is gracious and merciful, and that God will not deal
with people in any other way than we see in Jesus Christ, who came as the
savior of the world.

Question 52.  How should I treat non-Christians and people of other
religions?
As much as I can, I should meet friendship with friendship, hostility with
kindness, generosity with gratitude, persecution with forbearance, truth
with agreement, and error with truth.  I should express my faith with
humility and devotion as the occasion requires, whether silently or openly,
boldly or meekly, by word or by deed.  I should avoid compromising the truth
on the one hand and being narrow-minded on the other.  In short, I should
always welcome and accept these others in a way that honors and reflects the
Lord's welcome and acceptance of me.

	While these questions and answers from The Study Catechism do not say all
there is to be said, they provide Presbyterians with faithful, shared
insights into our relationships with other religions and people of other
faiths.  We urge congregations, sessions, presbyteries, and synods to give
sustained attention to the central affirmations of Christian faith,
deepening personal and corporate discipleship, and renewing commitments to
joyful evangelism.

	We position the work of the General Assembly Council within the
Presbyterian Principles for Interfaith Dialogue, approved by the 211th
General Assembly (1998), and draw special attention to the fourth principle:
"In our pluralistic world, we confess that Jesus is the truth and the way;
through him God gives life. Jesus does not point to truth but is the truth,
in his person."

	Having unequivocally stated our theological foundation, we also call
attention to the General Assembly's direction to value ecumenical,
cross-cultural and interfaith conversation. It is our understanding that the
intent of the Peacemaking Conference, Uncommon Ground: Living Faithfully in
a Diverse World, was " to confront and converse with culture" while honoring
"both God's gift of freedom and the necessity of exercising that freedom
within certain boundaries."  We reaffirm Dr. Ficca's right to his own views
and we reaffirm the propriety of the Peacemaking Conference Planning Team's
decision to invite Dr. Ficca to be one of the speakers at this particular
conference.  Our church's Historic Principles of Church Order (G-1.0300)
declare that "God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free
from the doctrines and commandments of men which are in anything contrary to
his Word, or beside it, in matters of faith or worship."  These Historic
Principles also declare that "there are truths and forms of truth with
respect to which men of good characters and principles may differ.  And in
all these we think it the duty both of private Christians and societies to
exercise mutual forbearance toward each other."

	We trust that these conversations will continue, and pray that they will
deepen our faith and strengthen our witness.

Peace be to the whole community, and love with faith, from God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Grace be with all who have an undying love for
our Lord Jesus Christ.
										(Eph. 6:23f.)

_______________________________________________
pcusaNews mailing list
pcusaNews@pcusa.org

To unsubscribe, go to this web address:
http://pcusa01.pcusa.org/mailman/listinfo/pcusanews