Dear Friend:
The adoption of Amendment 10-A does not allow persons in a same gender relationship to be considered for ordination and/or installation as deacons, elders, and ministers within the church, for the following reasons:
1. Logical Fallacy.
Section G-6.0106b, as amended, reaffirms the binding authority of Scripture and the doctrines set forth in The Book of Confessions, and otherwise contains nothing that suggests, supports, permits, or condones the ordination of persons in a same gender relationship. The unstated logic behind the contrary position must therefore be as follows:
Premise #1: Old G-6.0106b required that candidates live in “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness.”
Premise #2: New G-6.0106b does NOT include this requirement.
Conclusion: An unmarried person in a same gender relationship may now be considered for ordination and/or installation as a deacon, elder or minister.
This syllogism presents a classic logical fallacy, inasmuch as the affirmative conclusion follows one negative premise. Using such manifestly faulty logic, one might just as easily have concluded that an adulterer, polygamist — or even a man living with his father’s wife — may now be considered for church office, contrary to both Scripture and orthodox Reformed doctrine. (See, e.g., 1 Cor. 5:1, 6:17-18, 10:13; 1 Tim. 3:2, 3:12; Scots Confession 3.13; Heidelberg Catechism 4.087, 4.108, 4.109; Westminster Confession 6.131, 6.133, 6.136; Second Helvetic Confession 5.150, 5.164; The Longer Catechism 7.249.)
2. 10-A Is Consistent With Traditional Church Doctrine.
Section G-6.0106b was first adopted in 1997, after which the Constitutional Services Committee opined that it “did not alter the process of examination or the accountability of officers,” which continued “to be the responsibility of the governing body in which that person serves or is being prepared to serve.” (Advisory Opinions: Note 8, updated April 2009.) Inasmuch the former language of this section (quoted in Premise #1, above) did not alter the process of examination or accountability of church officers, it therefore necessarily follows that its deletion consequent to the adoption of Amendment 10-A has not altered the said process. Section G-6.0106b, as amended, therefore fully conforms with PC(USA) doctrine as of 1997, when persons in a same gender relationship were ineligible for ordination and/or installation, inasmuch as it is “necessary to the integrity and health of the church that the persons who serve in it as officers shall adhere to the essentials of the Reformed faith and polity as expressed in The Book of Confessions and the Form of Government,” with a conscience “captive to the Word of God.” (G-6.0108a,b)
3. Governmental Rules Cannot Affect Doctrine.
Amendment 10-A’s deletion of doctrinal language from a mere governmental rule in The Book of Order cannot amend, repeal, or otherwise render inoperative unambiguous biblical texts and two thousand years of settled church doctrine, for it is axiomatic that a subordinate cannot lead, but must follow its principal (Accessorium non ducit sed sequitur suum principale.). (G-2.0400-.0500) It is therefore recognized that the Form of Government is “established in the light of Scripture to give order to this church but is not regarded as essential” to its existence. (G-4.0304, emphasis added) If it were otherwise, one could argue that the deletion or absence of a recitation of, or reference to, any element of church doctrine — the Seventh Commandment, for example — from a governmental rule in The Book of Order automatically results in its modification or repeal, contrary to logic, reason, and Scripture. (See, e.g., Scots Confession 3:14, 3:18-19.) It is therefore recognized in The Book of Order:
“That all Church power, whether exercised by the body
in general or in the way of representation by delegated authority, is only ministerial and declarative; that is to say, that the Holy Scriptures are the only rule of faith and manners; that no Church governing body ought to pretend to make laws to bind the conscience in virtue of their own authority; and that all their decisions should be founded upon the revealed will of God.” (G-1.0307, emphasis added)
4. The Book of Confessions Has Not Been Amended.
The Presbyterian Church has historically recognized the fundamental importance of the confessions in preserving the authenticity and purity of its faith. (G-2.0100.) Therefore, as opposed to the procedure used for the adoption of Amendment 10-A, “a more exacting amendment process is required to change the confessions of the church than is required to change the Constitution in matters of government, worship, or discipline.” (G-2.0200.) All doctrinal revisions — most certainly one as sensitive and important as the ordination of persons in a same gender relationship — can therefore only be legally attempted by way of an amendment of The Book of Confessions, which requires an affirmative vote by two-thirds of the presbyteries. (G-18.0201.) This has not been done.
5. Sola Scriptura.
Even if The Book of Confessions were amended to explicitly sanction the ordination of persons in a same gender relationship, it would nevertheless be unavailing, for “the character, qualifications, and authority of Church officers are laid down in the Holy Scriptures.” (G-1.0306; see, also, G-2.0400) Just as the amendment of a governmental rule cannot affect the integrity of established doctrine, the church is powerless to elevate its authority over and above the infallible Word of God. (G-1.0100c, G-1.0301a) As John Calvin so correctly observed:
“[A]lthough learned men, and men of the greatest talent, should take the opposite side, summoning and ostentatiously displaying all the powers of their genius in the discussion; if they are not possessed of shameless effrontery, they will be compelled to confess that the Scripture exhibits clear evidence of its being spoken by God, and, consequently, of its containing heavenly doctrine… which will subdue our presumptuous opposition, and force us to do it homage.” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1.7.4)
Thus, the newly amended Section G-6.0106b in no way whatsoever suggests, supports, permits, or condones the false proposition that persons in a same gender relationship may now be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders or ministers in the PC(USA).
“But if men, under the name of a council, pretend to forge for us new articles of faith, or to make decisions contrary to the Word of God, then we must utterly deny them as the doctrine of devils, drawing our souls from the voice of the one God to follow the doctrines and teachings of men.” (Scots Confession 3.20.)
Very Sincerely Yours,
Theodore B. Hannon, Esq.
