The pithiest remark came from Doug Ottatti, professor of theology at Union Seminary-Presbyterian School of Christian Education: “This overture would displace the documents [in the Book of Confessions] which it intends to summarize and then change the focus to the authoritative summary. It is like teaching Shakespeare and testing the students on the Cliff’s Notes [version] and not on the play.”
The General Assembly Council comment on item 08-05 was an overview of the “long and complex history” in which the Presbyterian Church has rejected a strict adherence to a narrowly defined confessional standard.
The Assembly committee essentially disapproved the overture by voting to answer it with the comments from the GAC that affirm the right and the responsibility of presbyteries and session to determine whether candidates or ordained office “sincerely receive and adopt the essential tenets of the Reformed faith as expressed in the confessions of our church.” The vote to answer with the GAC comments was 53 to 2 with one abstention.
An overture from Hudson River Presbytery (08-12), affirming the “freedom of Christian conscience of candidates under God in interpreting articles of faith as contained in the confessions,” was also disapproved by the Assembly committee which cited the same historical material from the GAC.
