“A Perfect Match”: Memories and Aspirations for the Presbyterian Church in America
An expanded text of an address delivered on June 14, 2023 during the 50th Anniversary celebration of the founding of the Presbyterian Church in America held in Memphis, Tennessee
Good day. My name is Palmer Robertson. I had the great privilege of being among the delegates to the first General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, which was formed 50 years ago at Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama. At this current assembly held in 2023 in Memphis, Tennessee, I have been asked to share some memories and aspirations, thinking back to the origins of the PCA and how those origins might point us toward the future. So let me share some of these thoughts as I have reflected on our origins and then what the future might hold for this great, great institution, by God’s grace, called the Presbyterian Church in America, among many true churches of our Lord Jesus Christ worldwide.
Many of you are ruling and teaching elders of the church. You have been ordained with a special calling to communicate God's truth to his people and to supervise the church so that it continues in faithfulness to Christ across the generations. You who are ordained ministers sometimes have the special privilege of presiding over a wedding. You have counseled a particular couple over several weeks about the wonders of the marital relationship. You have witnessed the beautiful bride coming down the aisle of the church to meet the handsome young groom standing with great expectations. You look at this young couple and think to yourself: "A perfect match. This man and this woman are a perfect match."
In a similar way, Jesus Christ the Son of God is the groom. The church is his chosen bride, and you as ruling and teaching elders serve as the presiding minister. You are to join together bride and groom, the church and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul the Apostle was very aware of this responsibility as one given the special charge of ministering not just to the people of Israel, but to all the nations. This unique “Apostle to the Nations” began his ministry in Damascus in Syria right after his conversion. Because his life was threatened, his friends let him over the city wall in a basket. Paul then went to Jerusalem. He faithfully preached the gospel there, and in response they prepared to kill him. So his friends sent him off to Tarsus, his home town, where he was born and raised. From Tarsus, Paul journeyed to Antioch in Syria and then to Cyprus and to Asia where he continued to preach the gospel despite all opposition. In Asia he was stoned and left for dead. But he got up, went to the next city, and preached the gospel once more. From there, he traveled to Europe.
Can you imagine? From Damascus to Jerusalem to Tarsus to Antioch to Cyprus to Asia to Europe in one lifetime! Paul embodied the very essence of a missionary spirit for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Since “Day One” of the PCA, that same missionary spirit has been a dominant factor in the life of this church. “Obedient to the Great Commission” has been fundamental to the vision of the Presbyterian Church in America. Its basic commitment has been to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to all the nations of the world. May this original missionary vision remain with us until the Lord returns.
Paul’s farthest point west in his missionary journeys according to the book of Acts was to the city of Corinth. What did he find in Corinth? In Athens, where he had just been, he found idols, people worshiping images carved in stone. Corinth was different. In Corinth, a particular sin dominated the community - sexual immorality. If you called someone a Corinthian, or addressed a person by saying, "You Corinthian!", that meant you were regarding that person as someone living in sexual immorality. Paul wrote at least two letters to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians chapter five, chapter six, and chapter ten, he addresses this serious problem of sexual immorality. In 2 Corinthians, he's still dealing with the same problem. In chapter two, he rejoices that one has been restored who had gone astray. In chapter seven, he urges the Corinthians to cleanse themselves from every defilement of body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. When he comes to his conclusion, the problem is still present. He grieves because, as he says, "Many of you are still living in sexual immorality. You have never repented of these sins" (2 Cor. 12:21). Not a few, but many are continuing in this sin.
Despite this persisting presence of moral corruption, the apostle offers an amazing observation. He says, “I made a promise to God regarding you. I promised you, the church of Corinth, to Christ as a pure virgin” (2 Cor. 11:2). You, the church of Corinth, the bride of the Son of God, I have promised to Christ as a pure virgin!
But how could that possibly be? Already Paul has indicated that the Corinthian church is spoiled by its sexual immorality. Yet it is true! This same church could be presented to Christ as a “pure virgin” because of the power of the Holy Spirit in working regeneration in the soul of a human being. Paul had previously said that some of them were sexually immoral people. But they were washed, they were purified, they were justified in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 6:11).
This past Sunday we had the privilege of attending a PCA church in the morning and an EPC church in the evening. In both services, the message of justification by faith alone came through clear as a bell. We’ve got that straight. But do we fully understand the equally central doctrine of holiness, holiness “without which no one will see the Lord”? (Heb. 12:14). Without holiness, both internally and externally, no one will see the Lord.
Isn't the gospel’s power to transform people amazing! Not simply that it affects their outer lifestyle. Instead, in the deepest inner recesses of their soul, Christ totally transforms people. Yet Paul continues, "But I fear that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds could be corrupted from the purity of a heart committed to Christ" (2 Cor. 11:3).
In this context of the mighty working of the gospel in the church of Corinth, consider a few memories and aspirations about the Presbyterian Church in America, a “perfect match” as the bride of Christ. Contemplate your promise as ruling and teaching elders to present this church to Christ as a pure virgin.
First of all, thinking back in the past, Why the PCA? What was the reason for its coming into existence?
First and foremost, the Bible. The PCA came into existence because its founders believed the Bible was “the only infallible rule” of what you are to believe and how you are to live. Nowhere else can you find in any book the infallible direction as to what you are to believe and how you are to live. Jesus himself prayed in his last prayer before he gave his life for sinners on the cross, "Sanctify them in the truth. Your Word is truth" (John 17:17). The Word of God and the Word of God alone is capable of creating, among sinners a body of people that may be designated as a “pure virgin.” Nothing else has the power to sanctify the church of the Lord Jesus Christ other than the Bible. We have our secondary standards, the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. These beloved secondary standards are essential to our life together. But let us never forget that our primary standard is the Bible and the Bible alone. If our church is ever to have peace and unity, it can only be achieved by the common commitment of all that are involved to a glad acceptance of what the Bible as the Word of God says.
We proud Presbyterians might benefit a little by humbling ourselves and learning from our Baptist brothers. Here's the son of a North Carolina farmer, a good old tar heel. He was the counselor to five consecutive presidents of the United States of America. He preached to the Queen of England, and the rumor in England is that the queen was converted to true Christianity through the preaching of Billy Graham. He lectured to the intellectuals at Oxford University. In one sermon, he preached to over one million people in Seoul, Korea. What was the trademark of the ministry of Billy Graham, our Baptist brother? If you ever heard him preach, you will never forget. By gesturing to an open Bible stretched forward to his hearers, he slashes the air with his hand and declares, "The Bible says!"
But then we Presbyterians do have Paul the Presbyterian. What was his trademark? As he pens his final words in the last chapter of his second letter to Timothy, he says, "Preach the Word!" (2 Tim. 4:2). Don't simply converse with the people as you stand in the pulpit. Preach it, declare it as the very Word of God. Be at it when it’s popular and when it’s unpopular. He continues, "Do the work of an evangelist" (2 Tim. 4:5). The word emphasized in that verse is “work.” Do the work of an evangelist, because evangelism is work.
But just a minute. Presbyterian evangelists? To be sure, there was some serious discussion among the original PCA brothers about the proper way to do evangelism. Some people favored one kind of evangelism and some favored another. But I believe it was Frank Barker who said, “I like the way I do evangelism better than the way you don’t do evangelism.”
What about you as a preacher of the Word? Do you ever preach on Sunday morning as an evangelist? Do you pray with your elders and then expect that as you preach your Sunday morning sermon, someone will be born again, saved, delivered from his sins by hearing that one sermon as the Holy Spirit joins with you and works in his heart? Ah, the good old days of the PEF. Have you ever heard of the PEF? What was the PEF? It was the “Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship.” The Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship was alive at the very beginning of the Presbyterian Church in America. Can you imagine? Twelve full-time Presbyterian evangelists prepared to come to your church and preach from Sunday to Sunday, every morning, every evening, all through the week. Don’t think for a moment that these presbyterian evangelists were slouches. Red-headed Sam Patterson, beloved founder of Reformed Theological Seminary, was a member of the PEF, and he was no slouch. He had his daily devotionals every morning with his well-worn Greek New Testament.
Let us never forget that it is the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible that must be preached in all our churches. The Bible as it reveals Jesus Christ is the principal reason for the existence of the PCA.
Now, secondly, what was and what must continue to be the standard of belief for the Presbyterian Church in America? In the old denomination, the PCUS, the Presbyterian Church in the United States, commonly known as the southern presbyterian church, persistent efforts were made to get rid of the Westminster Confession of Faith, or at least to water it down. Can you believe it? There was actually a formal effort to rewrite the Westminster Confession of Faith. That's right. They wanted to get rid of that “repulsive” doctrine of predestination. So they appointed a blue-ribbon committee of the best theologians they could find, and they gave them the task of rewriting the Westminster Confession of Faith in order to get rid of predestination. Some time later, they came back to the General Assembly with their long-awaited report. What did this blue-ribbon committee of theologians say? They said, “It cannot be done! There's no way to get predestination out of the Westminster Confession!”
Of course it cannot be done. The sovereignty of God in salvation is not contained in just one chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith. It's in every chapter. Regeneration of people dead in sin can only happen by the sovereignty of God's grace. The calling of God to sinners, summoning them out of their bondage into the new life in Christ, happens only by the sovereign grace of God. Even repentance and faith are God’s gifts. Justification of an admittedly guilty sinner can happen only by the sovereign grace of God. Sanctification of the depraved sinner can occur only by the power of the Spirit of God. Perseverance to the end happens only because God perseveres in the life of the sinner. Every aspect of the sinner’s salvation according to the Westminster Confession of Faith rests solidly on the sovereignty of God. Amen? Amen. So the effort to change the Westminster Confession of Faith in the old denomination had to fail.
So they tried again. When the northern presbyterian church, known as the UPCUSA, adopted a new confession known as the Confession of 1967, their hopes revived. Have you ever heard of the Confession of 1967? I suspect you have not. The Westminster Confession of Faith has lasted, up to this point in time, for over 350 years. It serves well as a clear expression of the faith of numerous churches throughout the world. But the Confession of 67 can’t hold a candle to the clear light of God’s truth found in the Westminster Standards. No clear affirmation of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, the atoning death of Christ, or the bodily resurrection. No assurance that the Bible is the infallible word of God in the Confession of 67. But the people pushing for change in the southern presbyterian church said, Let's merge our denomination with the northern presbyterian church, and then the Confession of 67 will gradually replace the Westminster Confession of Faith as the functioning confession of our church. Then we won't be bound so stringently to what the Westminster Confession says. They urged, “Let us merge our denominations, with one of the results being that we will officially change what we say we believe.” But the merger between the two denominations failed. It was voted down.
But you know the old saying, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” So they tried one more thing. Now they proposed, “Let's merge our southern church with the northern church piecemeal, one presbytery at a time.” You may not have heard about this plan, but it actually happened. If one presbytery of the southern presbyterian church merges with a presbytery of the northern presbyterian church, then gradually a change in the confessional base of our denomination will occur.
But someone raised the question, would that be legal? Would it be according to our own Book of Church Order? Would that procedure be consistent with our constitutional documents? The Permanent Judicial Commission was given the responsibility of studying the proposal of joining presbytery by presbytery. I was present at the particular General Assembly of the southern presbyterian church when the Judicial Commission came back with its judgment on the matter. The “judges” of the Judicial Commission came out wearing their black robes. They sat down on the platform in all their dignity. The “chief justice” stepped forward to announce their conclusion. What had this judicial commission decided about the constitutionality of merging presbytery by presbytery? "We have determined that it would not be proper according to our constitutional documents for one of our presbyteries to join with a presbytery of another denomination. It would not be a legal procedure according to our constitutional documents.”
Do you know what happened then? The very same General Assembly that had just received the negative report of their own Permanent Judicial Commission responded by saying, “We will do it anyway!” We will unite with the northern presbyterian church presbytery by presbytery. Even though this process will contradict our own constitutional documents, we will proceed nonetheless.
By this admittedly illegal method, the confessional base of the southern presbyterian church, the PCUS, was changed from the Westminster Confession of Faith to the Confession of 67. For now these united presbyteries could send delegates as representatives to the General Assembly, the highest court of the church, who only believed according to the doctrines of the Confession of 67. In addition, if a person should be charged for teaching erroneous doctrine, he could choose to be tried in the courts of the northern church, which now had the Confession of 67 as its determining confession. As a consequence, there was no way to hold back disbelief regarding the Bible, the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead, or any other principal truth of the Bible.
So, guess what? So the Presbyterian Church in America was born. We could not live in a denomination that no longer held to the Westminster Confession of Faith as its authoritative statement of what we believed. Perhaps now you can understand why what has been called “strict subscription” was upheld as the chosen way of the Presbyterian Church in America. A better way of expressing it would be “full subscription.” The phrase “strict subscription” sounds somewhat narrow. Think instead in terms of “full subscription.” That's what was meant. We fully subscribed to the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. Let me quote a brief phrase from the Message to all the Churches of Jesus Christ throughout the World from the First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America. The first General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America adopted this message to the watching world. At the bottom of the statement you will find 296 signatures of ruling and teaching elders. If you’re interested, you can find my signature in column two. But what is it that we wanted to communicate to the world by this statement?
We declare that we believe the system of doctrine found in the Word of God to be the system known as the Reformed faith. We are committed without reservation to the reformed faith as set forth in the Westminster Confession and Catechisms.
Notice carefully that phrase: “without reservation.” That’s full subscription. None of that Confession of 67 for us. Compare this statement of our faith to the beautiful wool sweater you bought while you were visiting Scotland. Your precious sweater has one little dangling thread that's come loose. Do you pull out that thread? No, you don't dare pull out that thread. The whole sweater has been skillfully knit together as a single whole. Pull out one thread and the whole thing unravels. That special committee of “theological experts” of the old denomination were correct in one sense. You could not remove the doctrine of predestination from the Westminster Confession without unravelling the whole thing. That one doctrine is woven throughout the whole. The original founding fathers of the PCA adopted the entire Westminster Confession of Faith as the essence of what we believed. That’s the meaning of “full subscription.”
Since that time, we have moved to what has been called “good faith subscription.” But ask yourself the question, What is “good faith” subscription? In good faith, you are subscribing to what? It’s the same thing! “Good faith” subscription means “affirming with personal integrity” to all the teachings of the Westminster Confession of Faith. It's still “full subscription.” Only now a person may declare his exceptions. If he has a little point here or a little phrase there that he thinks might be better stated in the Westminster Standards, he should make it known. We all acknowledge that these documents are secondary standards. But when you talk about “good faith” in subscribing to the Westminster Confession and Catechisms, you are subscribing to the whole thing. It is this agreed-upon understanding of the “one faith” that will continue to hold us together as the Presbyterian Church in America. But as we think about the future, let's not aspire to a day in which the “exception” becomes the “rule.” Let’s not move toward “exception subscription.” As the writer to the Hebrews says, "Hold fast your confession" (Heb. 4:14). It's the wholeness, the fullness, the entire system of doctrine that holds together. It’s impossible to pull out one part without the whole thing unraveling.
The third matter to consider regarding the origins of the PCA is how this church is to be led. We who were in the old denomination had been burned. We had been led astray. How had we been led astray? In two places we had been led astray.
The first place where we had been led astray was by the permanent committees of the General Assembly of the old church. For instance, the Permanent Committee of Christian Education had adopted the negatively critical views of the Old Testament. These views were saying, Moses could not possibly have written the Pentateuch. Those books couldn’t possibly date back that far. Instead, they were saying, in the Pentateuch we have a record of the evolutionary development of Israel's religion across many generations. This view was called the JEDP hypothesis. This view along with its subsequent modifications was totally destroying faith in the divine origin of the first five books of the Bible. At the same time, the literature being provided for our young people that were growing up in the church said, in a very sophisticated way, that Isaiah the prophet could not possibly have written the whole of the book that has his name. No, that's not possible. That would involve predictions of the future, which are absolutely impossible. How could Isaiah the prophet name Cyrus as the deliverer of Israel from its captivity 170 years before he was born? "That's impossible," they said. So they denied the unity of the book of Isaiah. But think about it. If you deny prophecies such as the prediction of Cyrus, the Medo-Persian deliverer of Israel, how can you in the same breath assert that this same Isaiah prophesied that Jesus Christ would be born of a virgin 700 years before his birth? Denying one prophecy will lead inevitably to denying another prophecy. So the Revised Standard Version, highly recommended in those days, translated Isaiah 7:14 with these words: "Behold, a young woman shall bear a son," rather than a virgin.
The Permanent Committee of Christian Education was leading our young people astray by the literature that was being put into the hands of teachers, good people who did not understand what was going on. They were denying the divine inspiration of the Bible and they were leading the church astray.
When the PCA was being formed, the question was asked, How is the emerging PCA going to deal with this problem of permanent committees of the General Assembly leading the church astray? How are we going to be sure that we do not fall into the same trap as in the old PCUS by having the General Assembly committees lead us astray?
I remember so vividly the very moment. Charles Dunahoo, who eventually became the first chairman of the General Assembly’s Committee on Christian Education, came to me and said, "We've got it! Eureka!" "We've figured out what we are going to do." The PCA will do something that no other denomination has ever done before. We will have “Committees of Commissioners” that will oversee the work of the Permanent Committees of the General Assembly. Every presbytery will send to the annual meeting of the General Assembly its representative ruling and teaching elders that will form the various Committees of Commissioners. The Permanent Committees of the General Assembly will then submit a report of their work over the past year as well as their prospects for the future to be reviewed by the Committees of Commissioners, made up of representatives from the various presbyteries. In this manner, the presbyteries as courts of the church will oversee the work of the permanent committees through the ruling and teaching elders working as Committees of Commissioners. The courts of the church, as courts, will lead the church.
You will find in that same Message to All the Churches a statement clearly affirming that the PCA shall do the work of the church in a way that has never been done before. The courts of the church, not the committees of the church or the administrators of the church, will lead the church. The Presbyteries, the Sessions as well as the General Assembly will determine the future of the church. The Committees of Commissioners continue as a critical aspect of this original vision of the PCA. Even until today, fifty years later, they are still in operation. Over the years, some modification of the role of the Committees of Commissioners has been made. But the principle of governance by courts of the church through its ruling and teaching elders serving on Committees of Commissioners is still in place. Let us not forget the wisdom of the founding fathers. Without question, the Permanent Committees of the General Assembly provide invaluable service to the entire body of the church. They do work that presbyteries, sessions and ministers cannot do. A great deal of the ministry of the denomination hinges on the work of those permanent committees of the General Assembly. But let us remember that they have a responsibility of giving account to the Committees of Commissioners every year. Let all sessions and presbyteries be sure they send their commissioners every year to these various Committees of Commissioners, that we might continue to be led by the courts of the church as courts.
Secondly, we in the old denomination, the southern presbyterian church, had been led astray by its seminaries. We had four seminaries, all sponsored by the General Assembly of the PCUS: Union Seminary in Virginia, Louisville Seminary in Kentucky, Columbia Seminary in Georgia, and Austin Seminary in Texas. Virtually all ministers of the PCUS received their training in these four seminaries. Sad to say, despite their glorious heritage, all four of those seminaries eventually began leading the church astray. On one occasion, the presidents of all four of these denominational seminaries contributed to an article in a magazine that asked the question, "Do we have an infallible Bible?" A very proper question to ask the leadership of seminaries. Do we actually have an infallible Bible? Each one of the presidents of the four denominational seminaries answered that question in basically the same way: "We do not have, nor do we need, an infallible Bible." With this answer coming from the presidents of the four theological seminaries, it was clear. We were being led astray by the seminaries.
So how did the PCA respond? What would it do that was different? The PCA said from its very beginning, We will not restrict ourselves to denominational seminaries. We will affirm that it's altogether appropriate for any court of the church to sponsor a seminary. So from the very beginning of the PCA, you have Birmingham Seminary, sponsored by the Briarwood Presbyterian Church. A little later, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church sponsored Knox Theological Seminary. A session of a local congregation was regarded as an appropriate sponsor for a seminary. In addition, a group of individuals could form a board that would sponsor a seminary. Never in the old PCUS had this happened, though Westminster Seminary in the northern presbyterian church had been formed by an independent board under the leadership of J. Gresham Machen. But now Reformed Theological Seminary was formed under an independent board. Greenville Seminary, New Geneva Seminary, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary all began to train ministers for the PCA. Eventually we did acquire Covenant Seminary as a denominational seminary through the merger of the PCA with the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod.
How great it is to have all these seminaries raising up men for the gospel ministry! All these “schools of the prophets” provide an invaluable service for the churches of the PCA. But let us remember the reason that in the PCA we have multiple seminaries sponsored by various courts of the church, as well as by boards made up of concerned individuals. If you were Satan, where would you mount your first attack? Make inroads into the seminaries, and you can determine the beliefs of the future ministers of the church. Jesus said, "Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth" (John 17:17). If you can gradually lead the seminaries away from the truth, the church will never be presented to Christ as “a pure virgin.” If it ever comes to the point that the teachers and professors of a seminary do not teach according to the word of God, then the source of future ministers will be polluted. Praise the Lord for the vision and the faith by which the PCA has responded to this challenge. Praise the Lord for all the various schools of the prophets that have been established. But let us be ever on guard to be sure that the Bible continues to be presented in each of these seminaries as the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice.
In conclusion, let's go back to the beginning. A perfect match. The PCA as the bride of Christ, presented to him as a pure virgin. Not a spoiled virgin, but a pure virgin. As ruling and teaching elders of the PCA, you have made a promise to Jesus Christ. That's exactly what Paul says in writing to the Corinthians: "I promised you, even the Corinthian church, I've promised you to Christ as a pure virgin" (2 Cor. 11:2). Let this be our fondest aspiration for the future. Let us commit ourselves to honoring the promise we all have made. As ruling and teaching elders, you took solemn vows that you believe the Bible to be the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice. You promised that you believe the Westminster Standards to contain the system of doctrine taught in Holy Scripture. Let us be faithful to our vows so that we can present to Jesus Christ his chosen bride, the Presbyterian Church in America, among other churches, as a pure virgin. Let us do everything necessary to present this church to Christ as the unspoiled virgin we have promised to Jesus Christ. He deserves no other. The perfect Son of God and the perfected bride for Christ: “a perfect match.”
An abbreviated form of this message appeared as an article on The Gospel Coalition website on September 21, 2023
‘The PCA at 50: Essential Elements from the Past Will Guide the Future.’
The article may be accessed by following this link: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/pca-50/